


Hungry for Magic

by Mischel



Series: The Chronicles of Destiny [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur Finds Out, Arthur has magic, Destiny, First Kiss, M/M, Merlin's Magic Revealed, Merlin's Scar reveal, Nightmares, Sleep Deprivation, Traveling, a monster - Freeform, a quest, druid camp, forest, mountains of Isgard, the crystal cave, village
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-04
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-12 05:09:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 35,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7086676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mischel/pseuds/Mischel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin keeps his unnatural nightmares, the lack of sleep and magic a secret, but that will soon change when a villager asks Uther for help with a magical creature that's been attacking his village and Arthur with Merlin both have to go defeat it. However, this journey will change their lives forever and when they finally make it to the village... well, it's far from over.</p><p>  <i>The story is set after 3x04 Gwaine (and before 3x05 The Crystal Cave).</i></p><p>Warning: I'm not native speaker and I'm 17, but thanks to my beta this shouldn't be a problem like it usually is XD</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's Getting Worse

_ _

_Blood._

_Red blood, spilling from his mouth in a stream. Gushing out from the awful wound in his chest, colouring the ground. Arthur's blood... That was all Merlin could see in that moment, horrible moment._

_Arthur's eyes were fluttering shut as his conscious was slowly fading away. He was dying, his prince was dying. Merlin could hear himself screaming in agony, he could feel the hot tears streaming down his whole face and silently dropping on the floor of the cage he was locked in. His friend, the man he was destined to protect was dying right in front of his eyes. And there was nothing, nothing he could do. The cage was cursed with dark magic and he was completely and utterly powerless._

_He wanted to help him, to save him, heal him with his magic and he didn't even care that he'd reveal himself. He didn't care about anything but Arthur. He needed to do something, he needed to save him._

_Suddenly something roared inside him. He felt his magic reaching towards the surface, swirling and screaming with him. But he didn't care. He let his magic do what it thought was best. He knew he couldn't help Arthur. His friend was going to be dead in a few minutes. He's already lost too much blood. And so Merlin closed his eyes and lost all control. He let his magic do what needed to be done. He let it all out in the biggest wave he's ever felt._

_He couldn't remember much, he didn't even know what really happened and what his magic did. But the first thing he could well remember was Arthur's head in his hands. Arthur's blood on his fingers was still hot and the bandits around were all suddenly dead._

_He grabbed Arthur's hand in his own and entwined their fingers. He could almost feel Arthur's soul leaving his body and he knew he could do nothing to make it come back. He let himself wonder if this was really his and Arthur's destiny after all. If what the destiny had decided was to let Arthur die in Merlin's arms._

_And then he felt something break inside him. He didn't know if it was his heart or his voice or both. He looked up to the sky and screamed as loud as he could. He wasn't calling for Kilgharrah, or maybe he was, he didn't know. He knew he was mumbling his dead friend's name over and over again. He has just lost his other half, his destiny and the whole purpose of his life. He felt loneliness and sorrow and the loss of the dearest friend he has ever had..._

xoXÖXox

"Arthur!" Merlin's screams broke the silence of the night. "Arthur! No!" He was screaming in his sleep – he had another nightmare. It was worsening and not even Gaius knew what else to do. The old physician woke up like he did every night for the past two weeks and immediately left his bed to help the young warlock. When he opened the door to Merlin's little room, he saw him tossing in his bed from one side to the other. His sheets were somewhere in the distant corner of his chamber and little drops of sweat were forming on his forehead. Gaius sighed and bit his lower lip when he saw his ward's tears streaming down his face. The poor boy was still screaming.

"Arthur!" Merlin yelled on the top of his lungs. "No!" His voice cracked, but he wanted to scream again. Gaius stood there and watched in horror that what they used to call a nightmare grew into something much bigger and scarier. It was about two weeks ago when Merlin came to him and said he had a bad dream. They both thought it wasn't a big deal – everyone had bad dreams after all. They thought it would be gone after one or two nights. But they were wrong.

His bad dreams soon became nightmares, just like the ones Morgana used to have when she was still a child. The only difference was that Merlin didn't see the future – at least they both hoped it wasn't the future. And Merlin didn't see different dreams every night, it was always the same. It was always about Arthur dying and Merlin not being able to save him. This dream was repeating night after night, driving Merlin crazy. It became more intense and now it was even worse than what Morgana's ever had. Merlin was sweating, tossing and screaming in his sleep, and he was afraid to go to bed at evenings. He knew the nightmares would come back, and that he wouldn't get any rest.

Some nights, Merlin was too afraid to even come to his room, so he took a walk throughout the whole castle. Often he found himself in front of Arthur's chambers and when he came in and saw Arthur soundly asleep, tears formed in his eyes. He wasn't allowed to sleep. He wasn't allowed to rest until... until what? He didn't know. It had to be some kind of spell. None of the potions Gaius gave him helped and he always woke up with dark rings under his eyes. If he was lucky to fall asleep after the nightmares. And of course, because he was Merlin, he tried to hide it from Arthur, all of this. He didn't want him to get worried.

Gaius hurried to Merlin and shook his shoulder. It didn't seem Merlin felt it though, he was still tossing and crying, so Gaius grabbed both his trembling shoulders and tried to wake him up again. Merlin's eyes snapped open, and the boy sat up.

"Again?" Gaius asked gently and Merlin nodded. He hugged the old man and started crying again, sobbing into his guardian's shoulder. As many nights before, Gaius tried to calm Merlin down. He reassured him that he's safe and that the nightmare is already over, and after a while Merlin let go of him.

"It's worsening Gaius..." Merlin sniffed and wiped his tears into his sleeve.

"I know my boy. I know." The old physician replied and looked at him with sad eyes. "You remind me of Morgana."

"Don't ever say it again Gaius," Merlin answered and closed his eyes. The memories from his nightmare were still so fresh, he could almost feel Arthur's head in his arms again. "I'm not like her." He added. "She betrayed us."

"Your blanket," Gaius said and stood up to pick it up from the corner of the room. Then he handed it to Merlin. The boy must have used his magic in his sleep and thrown it away, believing it's an enemy. Merlin sighed and took it. "Thanks," he mumbled and remained silent. Then he looked at Gaius again. "I'm sorry for waking you up..."

"Don't worry about it," Gaius smiled slightly and patted Merlin's thigh. "Morning is in about twenty minutes anyway."

"Yeah," Merlin said sadly. He knew he couldn't go back to sleep. The nightmare would come back and he'd be late again.

Gaius went out of Merlin's room, but he didn't return to his bed. Instead he came to his table and started preparing his medical supplies for his daily routine. Then he started making some breakfast.

In the meantime, Merlin was still lying in his bed, thinking about everything. Mostly about that nightmare and what could be possibly causing it, about how tired he was gonna be today, and about Arthur. About the secret he's been keeping for so long. Since he was a little baby and his mother had to keep him away from other children. His magic was uncontrollable back then, and she couldn't let their neighbours know about her son's gift.

When he was a bit older and able to keep his magic hidden, she let him go and play with other kids in the village. That was when he met Will and they became best friends. Since then they were playing all the time, but then Will found out about Merlin's magic and Hunith was really mad about it. She sent Merlin to Camelot, to Gaius.

Merlin sighed and sat up again. He had to change into his usual clothes and go to Arthur. He opened his closet and looked at his red tunic. It was red just like Arthur's blood on his fingers, he just couldn't get those memories out of his head. He remembered Arthur's head in his lap, and his magic killing the bandits that killed Arthur, and also his magic releasing him from the cage. He didn't know how he managed to do that, maybe his magic was still uncontrollable when he was in danger. Or when Arthur was in danger.

He closed his eyes and shook his head, but the tears on his cheeks remained. He simply didn't care anymore. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down. Then he wiped the tears away at last.

He took off his white tunic and trousers and trembled with cold. Sometimes he wondered if it wouldn't be easier if Arthur just knew about his magic. If he knew and accepted it. Everything would be so much better. He wouldn't have to lie to him every day, hiding in shadows when he needed to use his magic and save Arthur's life.

Merlin left his room and went to the table with breakfast Gaius made. He grabbed a single loaf of bread and headed to the main door.

"Where are you going?" Gaius asked, raising his eyebrow and looking at Merlin through his reading glasses.

"To Arthur," Merlin simply answered.

"So early? You have plenty of time." The old man said and took his medical bag.

"It doesn't matter..." Merlin mumbled and left without any other explanation. On his way to the royal kitchen and Arthur's chambers, he started wondering again. About his secret, Arthur, that nightmare, his whole life actually. He really, really wanted Arthur to know the truth, and maybe the prince was ready. Maybe Merlin was finally strong enough to actually do it and tell him. And maybe Arthur wouldn't be that mad about it as he imagined. They were friends after all, for a few years now. He had to understand why he kept it a secret.

Merlin blinked and realized he was already holding a tray with Arthur's breakfast and that in front of him was standing Mary the cook. He quickly said his thanks and hurried upstairs. It was still really early, the sun hasn't even risen yet and Merlin was already opening the doors to Arthur's chambers. It felt a bit strange to be up so early. It certainly wasn't usual for him. And as he expected, even Arthur was still sleeping when he entered the room. But he couldn't wake him up now, it was too early for him. He'd be just grumpy again.

So Merlin sat down to the table and started thinking again. He couldn't help it, he had nothing to do. The bad dreams returned every time he closed his eyes and he just couldn't get rid of them. Gaius had already tried almost everything. They both searched through many books in Gaius' quarters, even in the big library in the castle. They couldn't tell Geoffrey what books they needed of course. But even then, nothing helped so far.

It was just so frustrating. Why did Merlin have those terrible nightmares? Where were they from? And why, for God's sake, _why_ were they all about Arthur dying and why he wasn't able to save him? He always had to watch him die.

His eyes filled with tears, but he didn't care. He wouldn't be able to stop them anyway, so why should he even try. He covered his mouth as a silent sob escaped. He quickly wiped the tears, but he couldn't hide his red rimmed eyes. He sighed and closed them.

Arthur stirred in the bed.

Merlin looked at him and slowly stood up. The prince was almost awake now, so Merlin just went to the window and pushed away the curtains. As the light shone at Arthur's face, he groaned and stirred again. "Merlin?" Merlin just laughed a bit and took away Arthur's blanket. "Hey!" Arthur yelled and looked at Merlin. He frowned a bit when he saw Merlin eyes. It seemed like he was crying, not a long time ago.

Merlin quickly turned around and went to the closet to look through Arthur's tunics. He didn't want Arthur to know that he was crying. And he certainly didn't want to explain why. Everything was just so complicated. "So," Merlin cleared his throat. "What shirt do you want to wear today?" He asked.

Arthur sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I haven't even got up and you already want me to tell you what shirt I want? I haven't even had my breakfast yet." He slowly stood up and turned to his servant, but Merlin turned away from him, quickly wiping his tears with his sleeve. Arthur came closer until he was right behind him and touched his shoulder. He felt Merlin tense a bit. What was wrong with him?

"Well," Merlin said, still facing the closet. "Your father has an audience with that man from the far village. You don't remember?" Arthur didn't answer and quickly turned Merlin around so he could finally see his face. Merlin looked into Arthur's eyes and then quickly looked down, bowing his head.

"What is it with you today?" Arthur asked, still holding Merlin's shoulders.

"Me?" Merlin asked and tried to smile. He didn't look up though. "Nothing, what should be wrong? I'm fine." Arthur rolled his eyes. Typical Merlin - hide everything and pretend that you're fine.

"Come on, at least look at me when you're talking to me. It's annoying." Arthur said and tried to look into Merlin's eyes. But Merlin turned around again and started collecting Arthur's laundry that was (as usual) everywhere on the floor.

"You're annoying." Merlin said and walked to the door. "Here's your breakfast." He pointed to the table and left. Arthur just stood there, incredulous. Since when was Merlin acting like this? Something was definitely wrong. Merlin seemed upset. And Arthur wanted to know what was the problem, what was wrong with Merlin. Did something bad happen? If something happened to Hunith, Merlin knew he could tell Arthur and he'd let him go to Ealdor. He'd even go there with him to keep an eye on him and to make sure he was alright.

But something was wrong and Merlin didn't tell him. It hurt Arthur a bit that Merlin didn't trust him enough to at least admit that he was not alright. His _I'm fine_ was starting to annoy Arthur even more than when he was late in the morning. "Wait," Arthur stopped and looked at the window. The sun wasn't even fully risen yet. "Merlin's never been this early before." He mumbled out loud. And that meant only one thing. Something had to be seriously wrong. Plus Merlin was crying in the morning, Arthur noticed his red eyes and sad expression. And he certainly wasn't okay with that. He was going to find out what was wrong with his manservant. Not matter what.

xoXÖXox

About half an hour later, Arthur was already in the throne room, sitting beside his father. Merlin was right before – Arthur almost forgot about the audience. The villager came to Camelot yesterday and asked for an audience with the King. To be honest, Arthur would much rather do anything else, he didn't want to sit there right now. It was boring. It was always boring to listen to those villagers, unless it was about something really important. If they had problems, he understood and wanted to help. But this morning, after he saw how sad Merlin looked, all he wanted to do was to go to him and find out what could be so wrong that he had to leave his chambers in such a rush.

Arthur looked around and sighed again. And then he saw him. Right next to Gwen was Merlin, still looking down. Arthur smiled at him, but Merlin couldn't see it. It seemed like he was seriously thinking about something. Gwen nudged him a bit so Merlin would pay attention again, but that didn't happen. Merlin smiled at Gwen slightly, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. And judging by Gwen's expression, she was worried about him and didn't know what was wrong with Merlin either.

The doors finally opened and the villager walked in. He bowed in front of the king and knelt in the middle of the room in front of the throne. "My king," he greeted and bowed his head. The man wasn't very young. His hair was long and white and he had a small beard. According to his clothes it was apparent he had to work hard every day.

"Speak. What is your name?" Uther started and looked at the villager. The old man looked up.

"My name is William, my lord." He answered with deep voice. Arthur didn't really pay attention though; he couldn't take his eyes off of Merlin. He noticed Merlin winced a bit when he heard the name. And Arthur remembered that Merlin's best friend from Ealdor was Will. He was the one who died. He remembered how much Merlin cried that day.

Arthur shook his head and looked back at the man in front of his father. He was looking at Uther with uncertainty and fear in his eyes as he continued. "I come from a village called Fellindora, my lord. It is not very far away, only two days ride to the south. But lately," the old man looked at the knights and servants around and then back at his king, whispering, "a monster is threatening us, my lord."

Uther raised his eyebrows and waved his hand to encourage the man to continue. "In the last two days, it killed almost 4 people. I am the leader of my village and I left my daughter in charge, but I've come here to ask for help, my lord." He said.

"How big is your village?" the king asked and leaned back in his throne.

"Over a hundred of people, my lord." William quickly answered, hoping the king would agree and help. Fellindora was much larger than Ealdor and it was still inside of Camelot's borders, unlike Ealdor.

"Two days' ride, you said?" Uther asked again and the man nodded. "Alright, I'll send my son to help you." He said and Arthur smiled. If it was a monster, then it was probably magic and Uther had to get rid of it.

"Thank you, my lord!" The man smiled. "Thank you so much, you are a good king to your people."

"Very well, guards!" Uther waved his hand again and all the knights by the door turned to him and stepped closer. "Give the man some food and a bed for the night in the castle." With that, William bowed again and turned to the guards who led him out of the door. When they left, Uther looked at Arthur. "Arthur, take your manservant and go there to take a look at the creature."

Arthur nodded and without any other word, he went to the door. Merlin bowed to the king and followed the prince. When the two of them were finally out of the throne room, Arthur turned to Merlin. "Merlin, pack our stuff and go to the stables to prepare the horses."

"What are _you_ going to do?" Merlin asked.

"We're going in about an hour, so I'm gonna change my clothes already." He said and turned around to go to his chambers.

"Wow, you can do that? I wasn't aware." Merlin teased and grinned when Arthur stopped and turned around again.

"Shut up, Merlin. I'm not an idiot," he said, but smiled when he turned around again. Merlin smiled too and ran to his room to pack his stuff. Then he'd go back to Arthur's chambers and in the end to the stables to prepare the horses as Arthur told him. He was smiling, which seemed like a miracle these days. He didn't even think he'd be able to smile because he hated those nightmares, but when he was around Arthur, he enjoyed their banter.

And then it hit him. He was about to set off on a journey with Arthur and he would have to sleep in the forest! He was glad it was Arthur because there was no other person he would be rather with, but to sleep there? That meant Arthur would find out about his bad dreams. Merlin didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing.

When he came to his and Gaius' quarters, the physician wasn't there, but Merlin supposed he was on one of his errands in the city. He wasn't on the audience, so Merlin decided to leave there a note with an explanation to where he'd gone.

As soon as he packed his things, he went to the kitchen for some food and then back to Arthur's chambers. It didn't take long to pack Arthur's things and to prepare the horses, so only after about 40 minutes, they were already in the courtyard, sitting on their horses and heading to another adventure together.

 


	2. The Restless Night

It wasn't even ten minutes since they left Camelot and Arthur started talking. He wanted to talk because Merlin didn't and that was strange. Merlin always talked too much and suddenly he was silent? Not to mention that Merlin had woken him up way too early today. And he didn't even forget the breakfast. No, this man riding next to Arthur wasn't _Merlin_. This wasn't his clumsy, stupid manservant who talked and smiled too much, this was someone else. A new version of Merlin. A better servant but worse friend. And Arthur wanted the old Merlin back.

"So, Merlin," Arthur started, growing impatient. "Don't you want to tell me something?" He asked. Merlin didn't even look at him when he answered.

"Don't think so, why?" He said matter-of-factly and looked at the trees around them. The sun was shining through the leaves and made his skin feel warm and he felt more alive and more himself here than back in Camelot. He felt a bit trapped there, but it was still his home. And he had Arthur there. And Gaius with Gwen.

"Come on, Merlin," Arthur rolled his eyes.

"What?" Merlin finally turned to him, confused.

"I _noticed_ okay?" Arthur continued and looked at his friend. "I'm not as stupid as you'd like to think, I know you were crying in the morning." Merlin turned away the moment Arthur mentioned the morning in his chambers. He didn't want to talk about it, especially with Arthur. "I'd just like to know why-"

"I wasn't crying." Merlin replied and sped up a bit. Arthur wasn't that easy to get rid of though. He sped up his horse too so he rode next to Merlin again. Then he made the horse go a bit closer to him and tried to look into Merlin's eyes. He saw that Merlin was tensed a bit, he seemed nervous and somehow sad. And tired, but he looked tired almost every day these last two weeks... Did Arthur really give him too many chores to do?

"Merlin?" Arthur's tone was soft when he noticed Merlin's glistening eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?" Merlin finally looked at Arthur and even though he didn't want to... he knew it might make him feel a bit better. So he nodded.

"I... I-" Merlin started but paused. Arthur saw he hesitated. Either he wasn't sure how to explain what was happening or decided not to share the information with him after all. That was why Arthur did what he did next. He didn't even know what was he doing, his body somehow decided to just go ahead and help. And so he reached out and took Merlin's hand and squeezed. Now to understand this, Arthur would never do that. He'd never touch Merlin like this, but he was desperate to get the answer even though he wasn't sure why. He's seen Merlin upset a few times before, but to talk about it this openly? That never happened between them. Maybe it was time to try new things and help each other by listening to what the other one wanted to say.

Arthur smiled slightly when he saw it worked. Merlin took a deep breath and wiped away a tear that ran down his cheek. "I- I don't know how to explain this..." He looked at Arthur again as they rode. "I don't want you to laugh at me."

"Merlin, I promise I won't laugh at you. Not if something serious is going on here, okay? I'm your prince and I'm also sort of responsible for you... in certain ways. I want to know what's happening, so I won't laugh." Arthur assured his friend. Merlin chuckled a bit.

"I never thought you would be actually able to admit it out loud," Merlin joked because they both knew Arthur practically just admitted he cared about Merlin. The smile disappeared from Merlin's face though and he looked down again. "I... um," he cleared his throat. "I have these... nightmares."

"Nightmares?" Arthur asked.

"Yes. They're worsening every day and I don't know what to do anymore." Merlin admitted. "It's not... it's not like a normal bad dream. I've been having them already for two weeks and... and I can't sleep." Merlin whispered. He hesitated a bit before saying he couldn't sleep because he also wanted to say that according to Gaius it was harder to wake him up than before. He decided against it. Arthur might think it was magic, which they already knew it probably was.

"Merlin, why didn't you tell me?" Arthur asked. Merlin could see the hurt in his eyes and he didn't want to see it, so he looked at his horse's head.

"Why?" He laughed a bit sadly. "Gaius is the court physician and he has no clue what to do with it. You wouldn't help much either. Besides... I didn't want you to worry about me." Merlin said honestly. He wanted to tell Arthur about it, many times, but he never did. Not only was he afraid Arthur would laugh at him, there was another reason too of course. Arthur was a crowned prince of Camelot and he had enough of his own problems.

Arthur sighed and looked down. They were riding through a small meadow in the middle of the forest. "Well, you were right. I am worried about you now." Arthur admitted and finally let go of Merlin's hand when he realized they were still touching. Merlin sighed and looked down again. It was very comfortable to be able to touch Arthur like that. He didn't know why, but he liked it. It meant something to him. It meant that Arthur cared enough to cross their usual boundaries.

"What are the nightmares about?" Arthur suddenly asked him and looked back at him. Merlin had to swallow. He didn't know why, but he felt a bit embarrassed to tell Arthur about this part.

"It's weird," he said at last. "It's always the same dream, repeating in my head when I sleep. But every time I dream it's somehow worse than before, I..." He paused for a second and cleared his throat again. "I dream about me and... and you," Arthur raised an eyebrow and Merlin laughed a bit. "No, not like that," he smiled. But then felt a bit sorry that he said that. It was almost as if he wished he had dreamed about them in that way. "Anyway," Merlin continued. "I dream about you being killed, and I'm not able to save you. I'm not able to do anything, I can just watch you... watch you d-die..." Merlin wiped his eyes with a sleeve.

Arthur was looking at Merlin with sympathy written all over his face. "I'm sorry Merlin," he said. "I'm sure we can fix it... somehow." He wanted to encourage Merlin just as he did himself. Merlin knew that Gaius tried pretty much everything he could and even Merlin's magic wasn't very helpful. Sleeping drafts didn't help, and useless wandering through the castle at night didn't help much either. Merlin would always eventually fall asleep and wake up with tears streaming down his face, he was lucky enough that no one found him in that state yet. Except Gaius.

"Yeah I wish," Merlin answered finally. He sped up his horse again so he rode in front of Arthur. He wanted to be alone.

xoXÖXox

In the rest of the day, nothing special happened. They rode through the forest and meadows and then through forest again. They didn't talk about Merlin's nightmares anymore and Merlin was glad that they didn't. Sometimes they rode in silence and sometimes they talked. About Merlin's life in Ealdor, then about Arthur's life in Camelot before Merlin had arrived. So even though the trip was boring, sometimes it was fun too. And the weather was nice.

As the sun went down and it was closer to the horizon, Merlin shifted in his saddle and swallowed. It was evening and after evening came night and he was beginning to feel very nervous. He didn't want to have another nightmare and he had no idea if sleeping outside would make it better or worse. He considered asking Arthur for help, but he soon dismissed the idea. The prince deserved his sleep and Merlin could deal with it on his own. Especially when Arthur was around, he didn't want him to see how bad those nightmares have become. And he felt like he needed to be more careful than before. Not only because of his magic, but because... He didn't know what had changed, but he felt much closer to Arthur than before. He wanted to spend time with him as often as possible.

Then Merlin looked at Arthur. Arthur pretended he didn't notice and soon Merlin looked away. He swallowed again and cleared his throat, which made Arthur look at him.

"It's getting dark," Arthur said when Merlin stayed silent. He looked in front of him at the sun. It was almost dark. "We should find some place for the night."

"Yeah," Merlin nodded. "Somewhere safe," he added under his breath, but Arthur heard it and looked at him. He knew Merlin was probably afraid of falling asleep and he didn't judge him. He'd had nightmares too, but he couldn't even imagine what Merlin had to go through every night. He wanted to help him somehow, but he had no idea how.

After a few minutes they reached a little valley. They stopped the horses and dismounted. It was a lovely place, perfect for staying the night. The sun's last rays of the day shone through the trees and there were orange and yellow leaves on the ground. The summer was almost over, but it was still pleasantly warm. The birds were still singing and there was a small river somewhere nearby.

"Merlin, fill our waterskins with water and make something to eat, I'll feed the horses," Arthur said. Merlin nodded and walked away, returning with water. Then he went to collect some wood and after he started a fire, he prepared ingredients from his bag to make them a porridge. It wasn't really a porridge, it was made of vegetables and meat, but it didn't look very nice. He was actually quite proud of himself. He remembered the time he went to Camelot for the first time and Arthur wanted to go hunting. He had no clue how to cook anything then, but Gaius taught him how to prepare at least the basic meals.

When Arthur fed the horses and tied them to a tree, he slowly came to the fire and sat down, facing Merlin. He wasn't talking, he was just watching his servant as the boy worked. His movements, his face, every little thing he did to make the food. Arthur still didn't figure out why, but it somehow fascinated him. Just sitting near a fire and watching Merlin. It was comfortable like that, it made him feel calm. They could just look at each other and they understood what the other was thinking about, even though they were just sitting in comfortable silence. That never happened to him before with anyone else. And he loved it. He loved the feeling. And the more he thought about it, the more he liked it, and that scared him a little.

A loud sound snapped him back into reality and he winced and blinked. He looked at Merlin who was giggling a bit and looking at him. "Sorry," he laughed. "A spoon fell into the pot." He mumbled, still laughing. Arthur just glared at him. "What?" Merlin asked with a grin. "It wasn't intentional!"

"And you expect me to believe that?" Arthur smiled sarcastically.

"Believe what you want, but it was funny," Merlin said and returned to the cooking. Arthur snorted.

"It certainly was not." He said and cleared his throat.

"Yes it was," Merlin laughed. "You should've seen your face!" He laughed again.

"Shut up, Merlin." Arthur sulked. He put on his best offended face and folded his arms on his chest, which made Merlin laugh even harder. Arthur looked back at Merlin and had to smile. He didn't see Merlin smile these last days, let alone laugh. Maybe it was because of those nightmares and lack of sleep, but he loved it when Merlin smiled. His smile could light up the whole world and make Arthur feel better anytime and Arthur absolutely adored it.

When the sun was already gone and it was dark and they finished eating their dinner and prepared the bedrolls, Merlin got really worried. He was glad that Arthur put his bedroll close to his, but it was dark and he was already sitting there, covering himself with the blanket. It was a warm night and he loved the place, but he didn't want to sleep. As if Arthur could actually hear his thoughts, he looked at Merlin. Merlin looked back at Arthur and took a deep breath.

"You know," Merlin started with a shaky voice, "Maybe... um, maybe I should take the first watch?" He asked and wanted to get up, but Arthur put his hand on his thigh to stop him.

"No way, Merlin. You're gonna take a good long sleep whether you like it or not." He said, looking into Merlin's dark blue eyes.

"But Arth-"

"No buts," Arthur warned. "You're going to sleep and I will watch over you, okay?" He squeezed Merlin's thigh and looked at him with such concern that Merlin just couldn't protest. He lay down and covered himself with his blanket and looked up at the sky between the trees. He hated this.

"Arthur?" Merlin whispered and Arthur looked at him again. "I'm... I don't want to have a nightmare again." Merlin confessed. He hated to say it like that but he trusted Arthur. He trusted him with his life and he needed to know that he was there for him if something happened. He somehow needed to know, to _feel_ that he wasn't alone.

Something in Arthur's eyes changed as Merlin was looking into them. He seemed more understanding. "I know Merlin," Arthur told him. "But don't worry, I'm gonna be right here the whole time." He smiled at Merlin and Merlin happily returned the smile.

"Thanks," he mumbled and finally closed his eyes. He wiped a single tear on his cheek with his sleeve as he turned around. Luckily Arthur didn't notice that. He stood up and went over to a tree nearby, and sighed as he heard Merlin's soft snoring. That idiot had to be exhausted when he fell asleep so quickly. Arthur smiled and then he sat down and leaned against the tree.

After a while, he looked up at the sky. The stars were already shining through the trees and he smiled. He loved it to just sit near a campfire, in silence watching the nature around him. It made him happy.

The next two hours nothing happened. Arthur found himself thinking more and more often about Merlin. He wondered how it would feel to touch his skin. And he already knew he'd love to found out. He didn't want to deny it anymore. He wanted a relationship, and by relationship he meant something _more_ than just _friendship_.

Merlin turned to him during Arthur's watch so Arthur could see his peaceful face. He realized how attractive Merlin in fact was. He didn't get to see Merlin like that very often. He always saw him during the day, but he has never had the opportunity to study Merlin's face for so long without Merlin knowing.

He smiled. Merlin's dark tousled hair, long black eyelashes, those cheekbones and red, parted lips. Damn, he looked so _perfect_. He wondered why Merlin didn't have a girl. Or maybe it was just another thing he didn't tell Arthur about. Arthur found only one disadvantage in this. He didn't get to see Merlin's mesmerizing blue eyes. But when he saw them during the day, he loved them. He loved to get lost in the endless blueness of his eyes and that wisdom in them. But it never lasted long. He couldn't risk keeping long eye contact.

"Arthur..." Merlin suddenly whimpered. Arthur quickly stopped thinking about the amazing structure of Merlin's face and tensed. At first he thought that maybe Merlin just woke up, but soon he found out how terribly wrong he was. Merlin never told him how awful his nightmares were. But when Merlin started to roll over and call his name through gritted teeth, Arthur knew what was happening. Merlin was having another nightmare.

Arthur quickly stood up and came over to his friend. He touched his shoulder and said his name, but that didn't help at all. Merlin started crying and rolling faster in his bedroll. He cried Arthur's name and "No!" Then he started screaming and Arthur worried someone might hear them. Merlin shook his head from side to side as tears streamed down his face. Arthur could see the pain and desperation in his face, the agony Merlin was going through in his dream.

"Merlin!" Arthur yelled, but as Merlin said before. It was still harder and harder to wake him up. Arthur panicked and grabbed Merlin's shoulders, but in the next second he froze. A huge wave of energy washed over him. It went right from Merlin to all directions away from him. Arthur looked at Merlin in fear and saw his friend's eyes were wide open and... _gold._

He had no idea what to do, he was so shocked he couldn't even move. The wave was the strongest magic he has ever felt. He literally _felt_ the power of it, and he saw the golden shade run through the forest as the wave flew with incredible speed. What the hell?

Arthur looked back at Merlin whose eyes were closed again and he was still turning around in his sleep, trapped in his nightmare. He had no idea what to do now that he knew Merlin had magic (which still seemed impossible). But he couldn't leave Merlin like that, magic or not. He needed to help him. He quickly shook his shoulders and yelled Merlin's name, which made Merlin look at Arthur with fear in eyes.

"Arthur?" Merlin whispered and threw his arms around him. Arthur hesitated a bit, but eventually he hugged Merlin back. Merlin cried and sobbed into Arthur's shoulder, burying his face into the crook of Arthur's neck and they stayed like that a couple of minutes.

"Shhh," Arthur whispered into his ear and kissed the top of Merlin's raven black head. Arthur was successful in calming Merlin down and he listened to him as he talked about the events in his dream. He heard the pain in his voice and he knew that Merlin would _never_ hurt him in any way. But he had magic and Arthur wasn't sure how to deal with that. He felt a tear on his cheek and he sighed.

Today he has learned two things.

First, he was probably... no, _definitely_ in love with his manservant. Second, Merlin had magic and he didn't know if he could handle that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you go, the ultimate magic reveal already in the 2nd chapter :D What do you think will come next once Merlin wakes up? ;)


	3. The Great Prophecy

When Merlin fell asleep again in Arthur's arms, Arthur carefully laid him back to his bedroll. He was glad that Merlin slept peacefully till the morning, on the other hand, he didn't sleep at all. He couldn't even close his eyes because whenever he did that, he saw Merlin's blue eyes turning to gold. And that made him feel... not sick, just... weird. He didn't know what to do. All he knew his whole life, all his father has taught him, was that magic was pure evil. That all those who used magic were corrupted by it and wanted to destroy Camelot.

But when Arthur looked at Merlin's peaceful face, softly snoring and lying right next to him, he refused to believe that. Merlin couldn't be evil. He knew Merlin a few years already and he knew that Merlin wasn't able to hurt even a fly. Merlin was everything but evil. And he didn't want to believe that the man he was in love with (as he recently realized) was evil, it was simply impossible. His first instinct was to grab his sword and run it through Merlin's chest. But when he looked at Merlin's chest, slowly rising and falling as he was breathing, soundly asleep (for once), he realized he could never do that. His brain wanted to kill his best friend and his heart wanted to kiss him so desperately.

And he didn't know which one should he listen to.

When he thought about it, he knew he just _couldn't_ kill Merlin – that was a fact. He wouldn't be able to hurt him. And another thing he wasn't able to do was to sleep. He sighed. It was almost morning and he hadn't slept at all.

He turned away from Merlin and closed his eyes. He knew he should keep watch, but he also wanted to try and fall asleep. It was pointless though and so he sat up and looked at Merlin again.

Then he stood up and went to him to wake him up. "Merlin," he said as Merlin slowly opened his sleepy eyes and looked at him. "It's almost morning, wake up," he said. Merlin smiled a bit and sat up. He yawned and Arthur couldn't help but smile. Then he put on his serious face again and said: "I'm gonna take a walk, you stay here and prepare the horses."

"Arthur?" He heard behind him. "Thank you... for what you did for me in the night." Merlin smiled, playing with his fingers nervously. Arthur could hear the honesty in his voice.

"That's what friends are for, Merlin." He said and without looking back, he left. He just couldn't stay close to Merlin right now. The whole night wasn't enough time for him to decide what the hell was he supposed to do.

When he was out of earshot, he growled. He couldn't stay close to him because he didn't know how to behave now when he knew he had magic, but on the other hand his heart wanted to stay close to Merlin and do whatever they always did... banter. Mostly. He felt horrible. He hated this feeling. He hated this damn situation. He hated the whole world for making this situation happen and for making everything so difficult.

When he thought about what happened in the night, he remembered about the wave of magic. It felt nothing like magic Arthur has ever experienced, and he'd fought a few sorcerers before (his father's orders). But Merlin's magic... it felt warm and tender, like someone _hugged_ him, took his face into his soft hands and stroked his cheeks. And it felt _good._ Like a friend. It felt like... like _Merlin._ And Arthur couldn't find it in himself to just ignore the fact that Merlin's magic felt so friendly and good. He still feared it though. It's what his father taught him to do.

He wondered how long has Merlin had magic. And where did he learn to practise it in the first place. Did he practise it since they met? Or did he learn later? The idiot knew magic was forbidden in Camelot. Why would he even want to have it? Was he out of his mind? Though Arthur cared about him and worried about his fate back in Camelot, it didn't make him feel less... betrayed. In fact, he felt awful. Merlin didn't trust him enough to tell him and yet he was such a good friend. Arthur almost always told Merlin when something was wrong. Well, when Merlin noticed it, which Merlin did every time and sometimes Arthur didn't want to talk about anything, but... the point was that he'd tell Merlin if it was something as important as magic. He told him about his mother, and that was very important to him.

He was walking for an hour or so and he didn't feel any better. Was he going to tell his father or should he keep it a secret? He didn't want to betray the king, but Merlin was _more_ than a friend to him. And as he realized yesterday, he was willing to do anything for that clumsy idiot. And telling Uther would definitely get him hanged. Or worse. He would burn him at the stake and Arthur would have to watch. That was unacceptable.

Still, Merlin betrayed him and he had to do something about that. Should he tell him? Should he wait until Merlin told him himself? Or should he just pretend that nothing happened, forget about it and carry on? Arthur sighed and sat on a tree stump nearby. He cleared his throat when he realized his eyes were wet a bit. He rubbed them and took a deep breath. "I'm not crying," he said to stop the tears. "He betrayed me..." he whispered.

"No, he did not, Arthur Pendragon." Someone said right behind him. Arthur turned around and unsheathed his sword from his belt and looked at them.

"Who are you?" Arthur asked, his voice suddenly strong and loud. The man just smiled and waited for Arthur to remember. Arthur narrowed his eyes as it slowly occurred to him.

"Is- Iseldir?" Arthur asked and smiled a bit. He lowered his sword, but kept it in his hand anyway. Iseldir was the druid he met when he saved the little druid boy. Mordred, wasn't it? Yes, it was Mordred. He was proud of himself when he saved that boy. Uther would just carelessly kill him. But he was such a nice little boy, he was only a kid. He didn't deserve to die.

"I would like to thank you again for taking Mordred back to us," Iseldir thanked him and nodded his head in awe. Arthur hid the sword back to his belt and stood straight.

"That was my duty, he was just a boy," Arthur said. "How is he?" He asked then.

"I'm doing okay, thanks," Mordred said and smiled. He appeared out of nowhere, but he probably just stood behind Iseldir and Arthur hadn't noticed him. Arthur remembered the druid boy had magic.

"Well, that's very nice to hear." Arthur smiled.

"We need to talk to you." Iseldir nodded his head again and placed his hand on Mordred's head (he was still pretty small, but he grew up a bit).

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?" Arthur asked. He wanted to return to Merlin, he didn't like the idea of leaving him there alone. But Iseldir was a friend. Well, more or less.

"Please, would you come to our camp? We want to show you something." Mordred said and looked at Arthur. He looked so adorable in the brief moment that Arthur just couldn't disagree. Part of him wanted to go away anyway, so he took the chance and nodded.

"Okay," he said. "Lead the way." And with that the druids turned around and led him to their camp. In fact, Arthur wasn't sure if he really wanted to go, but as he said – he didn't want to go near Merlin and in the same time he didn't want to ever leave him. He hated this feeling, it made him feel so... confused. As if he didn't know what he wanted and what he should do. The part of him that wanted to get away won and he followed Iseldir and Mordred.

When they got to their forest camp, which was just about half an hour away, Mordred immediately took Arthur's hand and led him to one of the tents. It was beautiful there, the sun was already shining through the leaves and the birds were singing and it was just as beautiful as yesterday. They were really lucky that it was this weather when they were travelling. It could've been much cooler as it was already almost autumn.

Mordred led Arthur in the tent and smiled. "Look," he said. "This is where I live now. Thanks to you." He said and hugged Arthur. "Thanks for bringing me home."

"You're welcome," Arthur laughed and let go of Mordred after a while. They went back to Iseldir, who was waiting outside. He was smiling too. Mordred looked at Iseldir and for a second it looked like they could read each other's minds. Mordred then nodded slightly and went back to his tent. Iseldir looked at Arthur.

"Please follow me, my lord." He said and bowed slightly. Arthur smiled.

"No need to call me lord, I'm not even a king yet." He said and followed Iseldir.

"You, Arthur Pendragon, are always are king. Not your father and not his father before, but you. It is about time you learn why." Iseldir said while walking on the opposite side of the camp. Arthur frowned. This was getting a bit weird. He didn't mind that the druids called him Arthur Pendragon, it was his name, and he didn't even mind that they wanted to call him 'my lord', not much anyway, but why did they said he was their king now? His father was the king, and he understood why they didn't like him. He killed many people, he has burnt down their villages and other druids alive just because they were different from him.

Suddenly Arthur got sad because now he knew that even Merlin had magic. Was it really that bad that he was different? Should he tell him? Should he wait? What should he do?

As he realized, Iseldir took him to a cave nearby their little village. When they went inside, it was dark, but Iseldir used his magic to light up a torch in his hand as they continued deeper into the tunnel. After a while they reached something like a room. It was probably where the druids slept when outside was too cold. It was lovely, Arthur quite liked that place. There was a lot of candles, so he saw almost everything. He looked around and noticed that the walls were full of different paintings. There was some sword stuck in a stone, a dragon and lots of runes around.

Arthur couldn't even imagine how hard would it be to paint those again if they had to leave this place because of his father.

"This," Iseldir said and pointed to the walls, "is a great prophecy." He went around the walls with Arthur and showed him the pictures. "It is said," he continued, "that Emrys and The Once and Future king will unite the five kingdoms and create a land, named Albion. People living there will be free to use magic. They won't be hunted and killed, there will be _peace._ That time has already come, Arthur Pendragon." He turned to Arthur. "Emrys has been born." He smiled.

"Who is Emrys? I've never heard of him," Arthur asked, curiosity taking over.

"Emrys is just his name in the legends. We call him Emrys, but he was born under a different name. It is said that Emrys is the most powerful sorcerer ever to walk the Earth. There was no other more powerful than him and there never will be. He is the most powerful of all. He is the _magic_ itself." Iseldir told him. It was beginning to sound a lot like a fairy-tale to Arthur, but he listened. "And he will bring us peace and magic back."

"Is he more powerful than Cornelius Sigan?" Arthur asked. He remembered the time Cornelius possessed Cedric and attacked Camelot. It was the first time Merlin called him a clotpole. He was saying it was Cedric the whole time, but Arthur didn't believe him. He sent him to the dungeons instead.

"Not yet," Iseldir answered honestly, "But he will be. He has to learn to control his powers first and discover how powerful he truly is."

"You talk like you know him," Arthur pointed out and looked at the paintings again. Then back at Iseldir.

"Yes, I know him. I haven't met him yet, but I know where he lives and how does he look like." Iseldir paused for a moment, looking into Arthur's eyes, hesitating. "And so do you." He said then. Arthur looked confused. "For you are the Once and Future King," Iseldir smiled and bowed again. "And we believe in you and Emrys."

"Wait a minute..." Arthur looked puzzled for a moment. "It's me? Like Really? _Me?_ Are you sure about that?" He asked.

"Yes, we are sure. You will unite the lands of Albion with Emrys by your side." Iseldir said. Arthur's eyes widened. _Emrys_ _by_ _his_ _side..._ Merlin is _always_ by his side. Emrys has magic. _Merlin_ has magic. Everything started to make sense. All of what has Merlin ever told him, that he believes in him, that he's going to be a great king... And then the legends about Emrys, the most powerful and the Once and Future King with him... If Arthur was that king, then Merlin... Merlin had to be...

"You think that Merlin is Emrys?" Iseldir asked him. Arthur looked confused because Merlin was clumsy and too lanky and... and just so Merlin. He didn't look powerful at all. Then Arthur blinked and realized Iseldir asked him something. Could they really read minds? Because Iseldir was right.

"Yes." Arthur answered.

"Then you are right." Iseldir said and turned around. He came to an altar in the middle of the room. When Arthur came closer, he saw that it was filled with pure water. Iseldir waved his hand above it and said in the language of old religion: " _Diegol cnytte, gewitte me yst. Aetiewe me tha the ic sece._ " The water stirred a little and suddenly Merlin's image appeared there.

"That's Emrys in this moment." Iseldir said.

"That's him _now?_ Exactly right now?" Arthur asked and looked closer.

"Yes." The druid answered and stepped aside to let Arthur see the whole picture. Arthur went closer and looked at Merlin. He was sitting on a log, near a fire. He had to light it up himself, it wasn't there when Arthur left. When Arthur looked closer, he saw that Merlin was crying. Not sobbing, but his eyes were a bit red and his cheeks were wet and he wiped them with his sleeve. Arthur didn't like seeing Merlin like this. Merlin sniffed and wiped his eyes again. " _Arthur can't see you like this, Merlin, man up_." Merlin whispered, but Arthur heard him and his smile disappeared.

Merlin looked around (probably to check if he was alone) and then he smiled a bit. It was a sad smile. He reached his hand towards the fire and whispered, _"Upastige_ _Draca."_ His eyes flashed gold and a beautiful golden dragon made of fire appeared in front of him. Arthur gasped. He's never seen Merlin doing magic like this. Last night it was more like an accident. Now Merlin knew what he was doing. Arthur didn't know that magic could be so... beautiful. And not just the magic. He saw Merlin's face and his little smile. He tried so hard to be happy.

"I don't understand," Arthur suddenly asked. "Why would Merlin even want to study magic when he knows that it's against the law of Camelot? My father could kill him if he isn't careful enough."

"I know the answer. But it is not my place to tell you." Iseldir said. "You should return to him now and think about what you have learned. Emrys is not evil. He is the greatest of us all, he is kind and he wants to help you from his own free will. You two have entwined destinies as it has been foretold many centuries ago." Iseldir smiled and waved his hand again. The picture in the water disappeared.

Arthur nodded. "Thank you. For everything."

"We should thank you, Arthur Pendragon. For understanding our people." Iseldir said and showed him the way out of their village. When Arthur left and was on his way back to Merlin, he couldn't help but wonder about his last question. Iseldir said it was Merlin who should tell him that. What did he not know? Was he missing something?

All he knew so far was that Merlin was a sorcerer and his true name was Emrys. And he was pretty powerful, more than Arthur had imagined. And he was this... _future_ _king_ or something. Once and future. It was an odd name, but it kinda flattered him that he was in a legend. But he feared it too. Because what if he wouldn't succeed and fulfil the prophecy? What then? Would the druids hate him? No, druids were kind and peaceful people, they wouldn't hate him.

But what about him and Merlin now? He had to tell him that he had seen him use magic. Twice. He had to tell him somehow, but he had absolutely no idea how to begin. He just had to hope he would be able to tell him somehow. About the magic and about his feelings, which was going to be very hard.

Arthur sighed. He was already pretty close to Merlin. He had to prepare himself. He took a deep breath and saw Merlin in the distance, still sitting on the log. The little dragon wasn't there anymore, but the fire was still burning. Arthur smiled. It was only about two hours, but he already missed Merlin. When he got closer, he stopped walking and kept looking at him. Merlin was looking into the fire, absently playing with the hem of his sleeve. Arthur cleared his throat and Merlin turned around.

"Arthur!" Merlin smiled and stood up. "You're finally back!" He went to the horses and took out an apple. He threw it at Arthur and luckily the prince caught it. "Here's your breakfast. Sorry, but I don't have anything better. We should go and stop wasting time, like you know... walking around for two hours."

Arthur took the apple and smirked. But then his smiled faded and he looked at Merlin. Merlin saw that sudden change in his expression and wanted to ask what was going on, but Arthur raised his hand to silence him. "Sit down Merlin, we... need to talk."

"We can talk while we ride, we should-"

"No, Merlin, I just need you to sit down, okay?" Arthur said and Merlin hesitated, but then he sat down on the log again. Arthur sat on the opposite side of him and looked into Merlin's eyes. Merlin was confused and quiet, waiting for Arthur to say something. Arthur opened his mouth, he nothing came out. He didn't even know how to begin. He decided to just tell him, without any further ado, so he took a deep breath and asked: "Why didn't you tell me about your magic?"

It was actually quite funny to see Merlin's face. He looked confused, then his eyes widened and he put on his serious face **,** then his fake confused face (all in one mere second) before he stuttered: "Wh-what?"

Arthur laughed a bit. "I know about your magic Merlin." He said. "It's because of what happened last night-"

"What happened last night?" Merlin hurriedly asked, but Arthur raised his hand again.

"I didn't tell you yesterday because you fell asleep," he saw Merlin blush a bit and look down. He had tears in eyes. Arthur remembered it. When Merlin fell asleep on his shoulder, with his hands still tight around his back. He had to put him back into his bedroll and cover him with his blanket. He absolutely _did_ _not_ kiss Merlin's forehead. Arthur cleared his throat and continued. "When you were still asleep, you started calling my name." He said and Merlin looked back at him. "You were having a nightmare and so I came to you to wake you up, but I couldn't. You started screaming, and suddenly there was... a wave," Arthur wasn't sure how to describe it. "like... a wave of magic, and you opened your eyes and..." Arthur swallowed and looked into Merlin's eyes, "they were gold."

"So?" Merlin asked with tears in eyes. his voice was shaking. "What now?" He asked. "Are you going to banish me, or tell Uther? Or you never want to see me again?" Merlin sniffed a bit and looked down.

"Do you really have so little trust in me?" Arthur asked. It hurt him to know that Merlin thought these horrible things were actually possible. That he would be able to do them. Merlin looked up again. "I don't want to do any of these things." Arthur shook his head and took a deep breath. "When I was away, I met the druids. You remember the little boy Mordred we saved?" Arthur didn't know why Merlin's eyes widened when he said his name, but he continued anyway. "They told me everything about you and me and the whole destiny thing." Merlin smiled slightly.

"I know," Arthur said and looked into Merlin's eyes. "I know that you're Emrys and that I'm the Once and Future King and that we are supposed to build Albion together. They told me that you are pretty powerful too." Arthur smiled a bit. "The only thing they didn't tell me was why did you want to learn magic in the first place?" He finally asked.

"I uh," Merlin cleared his throat. "I didn't exactly want to learn it." He said, looking down.

"What? I don't understand, you have magic, so how could you-"

"I was born with it." Merlin explained.

"That's not possible," Arthur said and shook his head.

"Well, apparently, it is." Merlin smiled and continued. "My mum said that when I first opened my eyes they were gold. I don't know why is it me. But I was able to move objects sooner than I could even walk." Merlin laughed a bit. "Remember Will?" He asked. "He knew about my magic. We were friends since forever and when we got older, he found out. My mum was so mad when she found out that Will knew. And my magic got stronger when I was older. I couldn't control it. When I was sad, I remember a flower in the window died. When I was happy, different things started flying around. That's why mother sent me to Camelot. She hoped Gaius could help."

"So Gaius knows too, of course." Arthur smiled.

"Yes."

"And did he help you?" Arthur asked, curious.

"Yes, he did." Merlin smiled. "He helped me with my magic and now I can control it much better. He gave me a book full of spells and I started studying real magic." He said. "You have no idea how many times did I save your royal ass." Merlin laughed. Arthur snorted.

"So all those weird things, the luck we always had on the journeys, it was you all the time?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, that was me." Merlin smiled again. Arthur smiled at him too. He noticed that Merlin had still tears in eyes.

"Merlin, why are you crying?" Arthur asked. Merlin laughed but it came out as a sob.

"I- I don't know. It's just... it's just that I kept it for so long and now it's finally..." Merlin sniffed and wiped his eyes but they just filled with fresh tears. He couldn't stop it no matter how hard he tried and he didn't even know if he was crying because he was happy Arthur finally knew or if he was just feeling sad and too exposed. Arthur smiled. He stood up and came to Merlin. Merlin stood up too and Arthur pulled him closer and wrapped his arms around him. He felt Merlin relax into him and bury his head into his shoulder. He didn't know why, but he wanted to stay like this forever. Just whispering "Shhhh," into Merlin's ear and playing with his dark hair. It made him feel... warm and happy. He wondered if Merlin felt the same way as he did. He wanted to ask him... someday, but now he just kept hugging him. He sniffed Merlin's hair, closed his eyes and smiled.

Magic or not, Merlin made him feel like he had a purpose in life. He made him happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spells I used:
> 
> Diegol cnytte, gewitte me yst - Illuminate the darkness, let me see through the rough water. (1x03 – Nimueh)  
> Ætíe mé þá þé ic séce. (Aetiewe me tha the ic sece.) - Show me those I seek. (2x08 - Morgause)


	4. Finally the Right Remedy

Merlin felt much more comfortable and relaxed around Arthur now that he knew his secret. He was glad he didn't have to hide who he was anymore. It was really hard to do it for such a long time, but now when Arthur already knew, he was finally _happy._ And the fact that Arthur accepted him? He couldn't even describe how grateful he was for that. There were no words for what he was feeling. And as he has recently realized, he really liked spending time with Arthur. He loved it when they hugged because he had a nightmare and... he wasn't sure what it was, but something was telling him that he wanted something more. He wanted, _needed_ to be close to him. He just wasn't sure what those feelings were and he definitely wasn't planning on telling Arthur.

They were on their horses, heading to the druids' camp again. The sun was already high in the sky, and they had a lunch just a few minutes ago. Merlin made some kind of soup with his magic. He knew Gaius wouldn't like that, but he wanted Arthur to see that magic could be used for good. And he was glad when Arthur said he liked it.

"I'm sure they can heal your nightmares, Merlin," Arthur smiled as they rode. He didn't want Merlin to suffer after the horrible night.

"I hope so," Merlin said and urged his horse to move a bit faster.

"They've found quite a lovely place to live, actually. And there's Mordred, too. He showed me his tent." Arthur smiled as he remembered the cute little druid boy. He was glad he helped him to escape instead of letting Uther kill him.

"That's nice," Merlin smiled a bit. "I'm glad that you accepted them, the druids. And I'm glad you're not like your father and that you don't want to kill them. They're like me, you know."

"Yes," Arthur smiled, too. "They're peaceful people. I wouldn't want to hurt them. I just hope my father won't find the place they're currently hiding in. It'd be a shame." He said and looked down. "And I don't know if I'd be able to stop my father."

After another half an hour they finally made it to the druid's camp. They dismounted their horses and greeted Iseldir, who was already walking towards them. As usual, he was wearing the hood over his head, but when he got closer he put it off, revealing his blonde-grey curly hair. Merlin has never seen him before, he's just heard about him from what Arthur said when he returned Mordred to them. From what Merlin's seen so far, Iseldir could've been about fifty years old. And apparently he was their leader.

When Iseldir was in front of them, he bowed his head and said, "Emrys," Merlin nodded slightly and looked around the camp. It looked very lovely there, just like Arthur said. "We meet again, Arthur Pendragon." Iseldir continued and smiled at Arthur, who nodded.

"Where is Mordred?" Arthur asked when he looked around. He couldn't find him anywhere.

"I believe he's playing with other children," Iseldir smiled. "Please follow me," he turned around and after other druids took care of their horses, he led them back into the cave where he was with Arthur earlier. They met a few druids during their way there, and Arthur was surprised to see that all of them bowed to Merlin, which made Merlin a bit uncomfortable as he noticed.

When they were finally inside, Iseldir lit up all the candles again and said: "Here we can be alone," he clasped his hands together and asked: "Is it your nightmares that bother you Emrys?"

Merlin nodded, "Yes, I've been having them every night for over two weeks already and they're worsening. Could you... Are you able to help me?" Merlin asked, uncertain and hoping that this could actually be the day his nightmares finally stopped.

"Yes, I can," Iseldir said. "But you will have to wait here, the potion and spell is quite hard to prepare."

"How long?" Arthur asked and looked at Merlin.

"An hour, maybe two." Iseldir answered. "We have the main herbs here, but I will have to send someone for one special herb. It grows quite near." Then he bowed to them again and walked away, leaving Merlin and Arthur alone. Merlin was incredibly happy that Iseldir was able help him. He couldn't wait for tonight. The last time he slept well was... well, after Arthur comforted him last night, but before that he couldn't sleep at all, not even after Gaius helped him.

"Happy?" Arthur asked as he saw his expression.

"Yes," Merlin smiled at him. "I'll be able to get some sleep tonight." He laughed. Arthur just smiled and the atmosphere between them tensed. Neither of them knew what to say or what to do. They were going to spend almost two whole hours next to each other and Merlin didn't know what to say. It was weird. Two days ago he'd know what to do and how to behave next to Arthur. But then something changed. He started to see Arthur _differently._ He found himself wondering what it would be like to sleep next to him, to touch his skin, even to _kiss_ him. And he didn't know if Arthur felt the same.

"So," Arthur cleared his throat and sat on one of the rocks around. Merlin sat right next to him on the same long rock. "What's your story?" Arthur asked.

"Erm... sorry?" Merlin asked, confused.

"I want to know everything you've been through that I don't know about. What happened when you first came into Camelot?" He asked then. Merlin smiled. He was flattered that Arthur cared about what was his life like with his secret he had to hide. So Merlin took a deep breath and wanted to say something, but it came out as a laugh.

"Okay," Merlin laughed again. "So first of all, thanks for asking," he looked at Arthur, smiling. Arthur smiled at him back. "The first day I went to Camelot, I witnessed an execution, _that_ wasn't very nice. It was the son of the old woman, if you remember. Your father killed him and it was pretty horrifying for me because I knew he killed him because he thought he had magic and well, I had magic too." Merlin took a deep breath.

"I remember that day. Morgana protested a lot." Arthur said and looked at Merlin.

"After that I went to Gaius. And in the first five seconds I saw him I already managed to save his life... with magic." Merlin smiled, remembering how terrified he was when Gaius saw him use magic. But if he hadn't done anything then, Gaius would have been dead by now.

"How come?" Arthur asked.

"Um... It was my own mistake that it happened. I went inside his chambers and greeted him and well, he was upstairs, looking for some book. And when he turned to me, he leaned too much against the railing and it broke. He fell down, but I used my magic to slow time and I put his bed right under him so he fell there."

"You can slow time?" Arthur asked, incredulous.

"A bit, yeah." Merlin smiled. "But then the old sorceress turned into Lady Helen and wanted to kill you. And I had to do something, everybody was slowly falling asleep, so I... saved you for the first time." Merlin said and smiled at Arthur.

"Thanks," Arthur said honestly and put his hand on Merlin's hand. He never really thanked him, did he? Merlin looked at their hands and took a deep breath. It was hard to think straight with Arthur touching him. It felt so... _good._

"You're welcome," Merlin managed to at least whisper. He had to clear his throat so he could continue. "And then, remember the knight Valiant? I had told you he was using magic to win with the snakes on his shield. But you didn't believe me-"

"I'm sorry, I should have," Arthur apologized and squeezed Merlin's hand. Merlin started to breathe a bit faster but he did his best to hide it.

"When he was fighting you, I used my magic to revive the snakes so everyone could see them." Merlin continued. He remembered that he had to steal that dog statue from the courtyard to train the spell. He was up all night just training and failing again and again. But in the morning he finally did it. It was the first real spell he has ever learnt, he had always used his magic instinctively without any special words before. But since then he learned what it was like to control the real magic.

"So that was you? That was pretty smart," Arthur pointed out before he could stop himself.

"Did you just say I'm smart?" Merlin grinned. "Wow."

"Don't trust yourself that much, you're still an idiot," Arthur rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his face. They both laughed.

"Then," Merlin continued, "I used my magic against the Afanc that poisoned the water. It was Nimueh's work. She was an old priestess, the keeper of life and death. She tried to poison me after I managed to kill her beast, that was the poisoned chalice that I drank from instead of you. Thanks for saving my life then," Merlin thanked him and looked into Arthur's blue eyes.

"I didn't do it alone. Someone helped me in the cave." Arthur said as he remembered that strange ball of light. "It was a blue light ball that led me out and back into the forest. Without it I would have died." Arthur said. Merlin blushed a bit. Gaius told him that he made a blue light ball in his sleep, calling Arthur's name. He felt incredibly embarrassed then. "What is it?" Arthur asked when he noticed Merlin's red cheeks. He smiled.

"Nothing, just... I think it was me. The ball of light."

"What?"

"Yeah, I was unconscious, but um," Merlin felt his cheeks were even hotter. He swallowed. "Gaius told me that I was calling your name from my sleep and that I was saying that it was a trap or something and then I made that ball and I was telling you to go faster," Merlin said and looked away.

Arthur started laughing. "I don't even want to imagine that," he laughed and Merlin joined him. "Yeah, but thanks... again."

"That's okay, we saved each other's life then."

"Yeah." Arthur smiled. "And what was next?" He asked. He was still holding Merlin's hand and he was... moving his thumb up and down. Arthur didn't seem to know about it, but Merlin felt it. It made him feel... he didn't know. He kinda wanted to be much closer to Arthur, but he held those feeling back. At least for now.

They sat there and talked about everything that happened until the moment Merlin had to kill Nimueh to save Gaius' life. Merlin told Arthur everything and Arthur listened (which was a new thing). The only thing Merlin didn't tell Arthur about was that Mordred was destined to kill him. He wasn't even sure if Mordred knew this, but no one should know their future. He had learnt his lesson when he saw Kilgharrah attacking Camelot in the crystal of Neahtid. And Merlin was sure he would be able to stop that from happening because Arthur just _couldn't_ die. He couldn't lose him.

And Arthur? He was impressed by what Merlin had to do. He knew now that Merlin's been through a lot of bad things. For example seeing your own mother dying because Nimueh didn't want to kill you had to be awful.

"And she threw a fire ball at me, but this time she didn't miss," Merlin continued. "I don't know how, but I managed to stand up again and I used a lightning to kill her. The power of life and death went to me, at least according to what Gaius said."

"Wait, so she hit you with fire?" Arthur's eyes widened.

"Yes, into the chest, I have a scar there. It took months to heal properly, but it's still there, still visible." Merlin admitted.

"Could..." Arthur hesitated. "Could you show me?" He asked. Merlin's cheeks went red again. He has never showed his bare chest to anyone. Only his mother and Gaius when they healed him. He didn't understand. He shouldn't feel the way he felt. Arthur was another man, it shouldn't be a problem to show him his chest. But for some unknown reason, it wasn't alright. He felt his breath quicken and he knew he was blushing like an idiot. But he couldn't stop it. It felt almost as if he... he was in love with Arthur. Was it what was happening? Was this the problem? Was he _in_ _love_?

"Um... sure," Merlin said and slowly took off his jacket, scarf and shirt. It was a bit uncomfortable because Arthur was watching him the whole time. But then he was finally shirtless and he turned to Arthur. Arthur's eyes widened when he saw the big round scar in the middle of Merlin's chest. It was _awful._ It was healed already, but it didn't look nice at all.

Arthur reached his hand but stopped a few inches in front of Merlin's chest. "Can I?" He asked. Merlin nodded. Arthur slowly touched Merlin's chest and the scar and exhaled. He didn't even realize he was holding his breath. He let his fingers wonder around the scar, above it and next to it, feeling the damaged skin under his fingers. It must have hurt like hell when Nimueh did this to him.

Merlin didn't know how to feel right now. Arthur was touching his chest and it felt... it felt incredible. He didn't even realize that he had closed his eyes, but he couldn't help it. The cave was cold and Arthur's hand on his chest felt so warm. He breathed out.

Arthur cleared his throat and put his hand away. Merlin immediately opened his eyes and looked at him. "It had to hurt a lot," Arthur said with a frown on his face.

"It did, but it was worth it. Gaius, you and my mother are alive now," Merlin smiled and put his shirt back on and then his scarf and jacket. He didn't know if he really was in love with Arthur, but he was sure that he wanted to do it again. To let Arthur touch his shin.

Merlin quickly banished those thoughts from his mind and took a deep breath. It had to be true. He was in love with Arthur.

"Emrys," Iseldir suddenly said. He just walked in. "I have prepared the remedy." He informed them and showed them a little bowl of purple liquid. Merlin and Arthur stood up and went to him. Iseldir took the bowl and gave it to Merlin. "Drink this," Merlin looked at him, then at Arthur and at the purple potion in his hand. He sighed and drank all of it. It tasted horrible, but he hoped it would help him.

" _Thes lacnung cymeth agieman eow ælfadla._ " Iseldir said as he held his hand above Merlin's forehead. His eyes flashed gold as he opened them and so did Merlin's eyes. "It is done," he smiled.

"Really?" Merlin asked. "So no more nightmares?"

"No, they're gone." Iseldir said. "But I have one more gift for you," he took a paper from... God knows where, the robe he was wearing didn't even have pockets. But he gave the paper to Merlin and it was full of ancient druid runes. "It's a protection spell," he said. "The monster you are looking for is a creature of magic. You should be very careful around it. It is very dangerous and it can be killed only with one weapon-"

Merlin's eyes widened. "Wait, if you mean Excalibur, I threw it in a lake," Merlin said.

"Yes, we know. But," Iseldir pointed at the paper Merlin held in his hand. "If you use this spell on Arthur's sword, it should strengthen the sword enough to deal with the monster. You just have to hope it will be strong enough to kill the beast, but you may also need to use your magic."

"Thanks," Arthur nodded his head and Iseldir bowed. It was time to go back to their horses and head off. It was almost afternoon after all, and the sun was still high, but they had to get at least a little bit closer to the village.

When they found their horses and mounted, Merlin suddenly heard Iseldir in his head.

_Be careful Emrys. That monster may be far more dangerous than you think. And know that it was a high Priestess who enchanted you to have those nightmares_.

Merlin unbelievingly looked at Iseldir as the druid continued.

_Her name in Morgause, I could feel her magic when I healed you_.

Merlin's eyes widened. It was Morgause? Morgana's half sister Morgause? Why would she want to hurt him? She took off with Morgana a year ago, but when Morgana returned she said she was held by some bandits. He believed her, but then when Morgana attempted to kill Uther and Merlin followed her out into the woods, he found out she got much better at lying. She must have been with Morgause the whole time, but why would they want to kill _him?_ Even though he knew their secret, he was still a mere servant.

Merlin quickly hid the confusion on his face, nodded his thanks and turned back to Arthur. Arthur didn't notice that he was looking back at Iseldir. They wasted almost the whole day there, so they had to hurry up to get into the village Fellindora by tomorrow's midday. But as Arthur said yesterday, Uther didn't expect them to come back in at least six days. So it didn't really matter if they made a few stops on their way.

Merlin inhaled and exhaled and tried to clear his mind. He didn't want to think about Morgause or Camelot's issues right now. He looked at Arthur, who smiled at him. He smiled back. No, he wanted to think about Arthur. Because today, he has finally realized something really important. It might have been the most important thing he has ever realized in his whole life. And what that realization was?

It was that he was in love with that adorable blonde clotpole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Iseldir's Spell (explanation for those who are interested):  
> I had to translate the spell Iseldir used myself. It should mean: _This remedy shall heal your nightmares._ I also deleted the diacritics so it's better to read. The original translation looks like this: _þes lácnung cymeþ ágíeman éow ælfádla._ If you think that's it's weird that I used 'th' instead of þ, it's because you read þ as 'th' in old English. I used old English translator and had to use nominative, genitive, dativ, accusative and plural. The noun looks completely different in each of these and I had to decide which one to use. Same it was with verbs. That wasn't that hard because in my native language we have it too, and it's also in German that I've been studying for 7 years. But in English it was kinda weird... Long story short, the whole translation took me quite long XD It's a very interesting and useful website though, (it's oldenglishtranslator.co.uk) you should definitely check it out if you're interested :)
> 
> xxx
> 
> I wrote the previous paragraph about two years ago, but I thought I'd leave it here just in case you're interested. Anyway, I know this chapter wasn't the best, but what did you think? Looking forward to the next chapter or not really? :D


	5. To Kiss Your Lips

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the chapter you've all been waiting for! Enjoy! ;)

They didn't make it as far as they hoped they would in the rest of the day. They made a quick stop quite early before the sun went down. They dismounted their horses, fetched them some water, ate something and let their legs rest for a bit. After two days on horses, it really hurt, but they were quite used to it. Well, especially Arthur who loved long hunting trips.

When they mounted their horses again and continued on their journey to Fellindora, Arthur couldn't help but think about what happened in the cave earlier that day. He knew he went a bit too far. Merlin didn't seem to mind, but Arthur was sure he noticed. When he was touching Merlin chest, it felt so incredible that he just couldn't put his hand away. And scar or not, he loved the feeling and he knew he wanted to do it again.

"How long till we reach Fellindora?" Merlin suddenly asked, interrupting Arthur's thoughts.

"Um..." Arthur looked at the sun. "We might reach it around tomorrow midday? We can find some tavern and rest for a bit before we go find the monster. And eat a proper meal." He smiled at Merlin. But Merlin wasn't looking at him, he was looking into the bushes nearby. He stopped his horse. "What's wrong?" Arthur asked, but Merlin didn't have the chance to answer.

As soon as Arthur stopped his horse too, an arrow flew right behind him. His horse kicked his hind legs, but Arthur managed to calm him down. Merlin quickly dismounted just to jump in front of a bandit who appeared out of nowhere. And then another one and another one. There were at least ten of them. They were running towards Arthur and Merlin with swords and maces. Merlin widened his eyes as the bandit aimed the sword at his stomach and cried.

Merlin didn't know exactly what happened, but his magic acted instinctively. His eyes flashed gold for a second and the bandit flew backwards just in time. He almost ran Merlin through.

Arthur jumped off his horse and quickly started fighting another two bandits who ran to attack him. Meanwhile, the horses ran away. But they were trained royal horses so they wouldn't get too far before they'd stop and wait. Arthur and Merlin will have to find them later.

Arthur was fighting with his sword but Merlin had no weapon other than his magic. And he couldn't let Arthur get injured. He was using his magic openly, it didn't matter anyway, Arthur already knew his secret.

Another bandit flew away against a far tree and he didn't move again. Merlin turned around and saw Arthur fighting. Another bandit was aiming at him with a crossbow. "Arthur!" Merlin cried and used his magic again. The arrow stopped in mid-air and fell on the ground. The bandit saw it and his eyes widened. Then he cried again and ran exactly towards Merlin. Merlin's eyes flashed gold again as he yelled, " _Astrice_!" The bandit fell on the ground and he didn't move again.

Arthur turned around just in time to see the bandit falling to the hard ground. He turned to Merlin again and smiled at him. _Thanks_ , he mouthed. Merlin didn't even have time to nod or smile back, he had to use his magic again against another attacker. It seemed like they were coming from nowhere and everywhere, there was so many of them. Arthur fought with his sword with another man nearby. The bandit had an axe and Arthur was doing his best to avoid all of his blows, but it wasn't that easy even though he was the best swordsman in Camelot.

Arthur used his sword just as the bandit's axe was high above his head and he managed to cut his arm a bit. The bandit got even angrier. He cried and tried to hit Arthur with his axe again, aiming for his head. But Arthur was quicker and he stabbed him right into his heart. The man's eyes widened, his axe fell on the ground and he followed soon after.

Arthur looked around and he didn't see any other bandits. Then he turned to Merlin and saw that he was fighting against two men. He used his magic mostly, but he didn't notice the one enemy who was running at him from the right. "Merlin!" Arthur cried and ran towards the bandit. Luckily he reached him sooner than the man reached Merlin and he ran him through. Another down, two more to go.

Merlin looked at Arthur for a second and quickly turned back to the attackers he was fighting. Arthur ran closer to help the man he was in love with and he shielded him with his sword. He saw Merlin's eyes turning gold and back to normal for the last time before the last of their enemies fell to the ground, dead. A puddle of red sticky blood poured from underneath his head and abdomen as he breathed out for the last time.

"Well done, Merlin," Arthur smiled and patted his friend's shoulder, still looking at the dead bodies in front of them "Well done." Merlin grinned and looked at Arthur. Arthur noticed Merlin was staring at him. He honestly looked like an idiot. "What?" He asked.

"You know this is the first time you saw me saving your royal ass and you thanked me?" Merlin smiled, still grinning.

"I definitely did not thank you, Merlin. You're an idiot for even thinking that." He rolled his eyes and hastily let go of Merlin's shoulder as he realized he still had his hand there. He didn't want Merlin to know about his feelings, not yet. But he wasn't sure if he could take it any longer. To hide how he really felt. Maybe he'll tell him tonight? Should he?

"You're so arrogant," Merlin laughed and looked around.

"And you are a clumsy idiot who is not capable of doing anything," Arthur answered. He looked around and wondered where had their horses gone.

"I think you're forgetting one very important fact," Merlin smiled, "I can do magic."

Arthur sighed and rolled his eyes. He wanted to reply something, but Merlin said something again instead, "Wait, where are the horses?" He asked.

"I don't know," Arthur said. "I thin-"

"You let the horses run away?" Merlin sighed. Great, now they needed to find them, and quickly.

"Um, Merlin?" Arthur came closer to him and slapped his head slightly. "I think you're forgetting something too, I'm still your prince," He whispered to his ear and smiled. "You can't talk to me like that." He said. Merlin smirked and turned his head. Arthur was still pretty close to him when he whispered to his ear, so when Merlin turned around, their faces were closer than ever.

"Or what?" Merlin said without thinking. Then, as if he suddenly realized how close they were, he turned red like a tomato and did everything he could not to stare at Arthur's lips. He shouldn't have said that. This was a very dangerous game, especially when Arthur's blue eyes and tousled blonde hair looked so insanely hot.

"Or-" _I might kiss you._ Arthur almost said. His mouth automatically formed into saying exactly that but he managed to stop himself. His head was telling him to pull away, but his heart was telling him to just lean in and kiss Merlin. Suddenly he blinked, cleared his throat and pulled away. His brain won. "Or you'll spend a few hours in the stocks." He muttered. "Now come on, we have to find the horses." He added as started walking away.

But he did notice that Merlin glanced at his lips when he pulled away. He might have wanted to kiss him too. He saw the hunger and slight lust in Merlin's eyes. He couldn't believe it, but it almost seemed like Merlin wanted it to happen. He didn't even know why did he pull away and suddenly he regretted it. Because what if it happened? What if he really got to kiss him? How would that feel like? Were Merlin's lips soft? Arthur felt himself blush and was just glad that he was walking in front of Merlin and that the boy couldn't see his face.

Merlin sighed quietly. He didn't want to, but he couldn't help it. As soon as Arthur pulled away, Merlin slightly leaned in. Arthur didn't notice it, thank god he didn't, but it wasn't Merlin's fault that it happened, it was stronger than him. That feeling. He wanted to kiss Arthur. And when he saw Arthur blush, it almost seemed like Arthur... wanted it too? Or was it only his imagination? He realized he was still standing there, looking at nothing and thinking about Arthur's lips, while Arthur was already about ten meters in front of him. He quickly recovered form the momentary state of realizing his feelings for his prince and ran after Arthur.

xoXÖXox

They found their horses not very far away from where the fight took place. They had run to a little meadow nearby and because the sun was almost down, Merlin and Arthur didn't get to ride any farther. They had to make a camp and make some food. That, of course, was Merlin's job. Arthur just sat near the fire and enjoyed his view. And by the view I mean _Merlin_. Arthur couldn't stop thinking about what had happened earlier that day. They almost kissed. They weren't close enough, but Arthur felt it. He somehow felt that Merlin was thinking the same when he was looking at his lips. And he was stupid enough to ruin the whole moment between them. Maybe he would get lucky one more time today, who knows?

It was already dark so they made a camp fire. Merlin went to gather some wood and Arthur sat on a log near the fire. It was comfortably warm and it made him think again. He really wanted to kiss Merlin so why did he pull away? Was it really so bad to love another man? Was Merlin in love with him too? Were his feeling true? He already knew his answer. He loved Merlin and he wanted, _needed_ to kiss him, to touch his hand again. He just didn't know how to start.

"I could-" Merlin cleared his throat as he came back and sat on the opposite side of the fire. "I should enchant your sword now, so it's ready for tomorrow." He said. Arthur looked at him and nodded. Merlin smiled slightly and took the paper Iseldir gave him. Thank god they didn't lose it during the fight with the bandits.

Arthur stood up and went to his horse for his sword. Then he came back and laid it on the ground so Merlin could start with the enchantment. Arthur sat back down and watched Merlin work.

"So you just cast the spell upon it?" Arthur asked and looked at his sword in Merlin's hands.

"I suppose..." Merlin said, looking at the paper. It was the same spell he once used to enchant Lancelot's spear so he could kill the Griffin. He remembered it took him quite a long time to get the enchantment to work. And that was the first time Lancelot noticed he had magic. "I've already used this spell once," Merlin smiled and looked at Arthur.

"When?" Arthur asked.

"It was when Lancelot killed the Griffin. I used it on his spear so it could kill it." Merlin said and positioned his hand above the sword. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He remembered that he was awful at this spell, but now he was more powerful, so he hoped it would work. " _Bregdan anweald gafeluec!_ " He said and as he opened his eyes again they glowed gold. Arthur didn't know why but he loved it when they glowed. The first time he saw it, he feared it. But now it actually looked quite beautiful and extraordinary.

As soon as the words left Merlin's mouth, the sword lifted in the air and started glowing blue. It almost looked as if the sword was on fire - blue fire. And it was beautiful. Arthur stood up and went closer to it. Merlin smiled and stepped aside, waving his hand a little so Arthur knew he could take the sword back. It was done.

Arthur smiled and slowly reached his hand towards the glowing sword in the air. He wrapped his fingers slowly around the hilt and took the sword. It slowly stopped glowing and the light of their fire once again became dominant in the dark. Arthur smiled at Merlin and put the sword back where it belonged. "That's all?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, the power will stay in the sword until you use it on the beast." Merlin smiled at him.

"That's good," Arthur said. When Merlin sat back down on the log, Arthur didn't sit back down on the other one. Instead he sat right next to Merlin. He wanted to feel his presence. Neither of them said anything because neither of them knew what to say, but that was okay. They sat there in comfortable silence and Arthur thought about Merlin's gold eyes and found himself smiling. They were both looking into the fire.

"So..." Arthur suddenly said and Merlin turned to him. "What had happened after you killed Nimueh?" He asked. He knew it was more than two years ago, but he had no idea what had happened to Merlin since that day. He wanted to know.

Merlin sighed as he smiled. "Remember Cornelius Sigan?" He asked. Arthur nodded. "I beat him. I made him return back to the crystal heart. His soul almost completely entered me, but I guess I was just a bit stronger." Merlin smiled slightly.

"I don't remember much of that night-"

"You don't say, you were sleeping on the ground the whole time."

"I wasn't sleeping, Merlin!" Arthur laughed and rubbed Merlin's hair just like he did when Freya died. Merlin tired to back away a bit, laughing.

"Okay, Okay," Merlin laughed even more, "okay," he smiled and Arthur stopped rubbing his hair but kept looking at him. "You were unconscious. There, better?" Merlin asked and Arthur smiled.

"Better," he confirmed and looked into the fire again. As always, it made him think. He was thinking about a lot of things. Merlin was almost all of them. And suddenly it occurred to him. Where did Merlin learn about his destiny? And Iseldir said that Merlin wasn't more powerful than Sigan, but that he was going to be soon. So how did he manage to trick Sigan and make him go back into that crystal heart? It should've been too hard for him.

"Where did you find out about your destiny anyway?" Arthur asked suddenly. Merlin didn't expect a question like that. He hasn't told Arthur about Kilgharrah yet, he wasn't sure how would Arthur react to such information and he didn't want him to be angry.

"Um... th-that's a long story," Merlin stuttered after a while. But Arthur knew Merlin and he knew he wasn't telling him something. He needed to know what it was.

"Okay, go on, we have enough time," Arthur encouraged him and looked at him. "The whole night actually."

"But... I'm a bit tired after the spell, so-" Merlin wanted to stand up but Arthur kept him down.

"Where are you going, you're going to sleep after I tell you to, I'm your prince." Arthur said and turned more to Merlin, giving him his full attention. He wanted to hear this story from the beginning to the end with every possible detail.

"Alright, but please don't get mad at me," Merlin started. Arthur frowned slightly, "It was Kilgharrah," Merlin sighed.

"Kill who?" Arthur asked, his eyebrows rising immediately.

"He's a dragon. The one who was locked underneath the castle-"

"You mean the one who attacked Camelot?" Arthur asked incredulous. He didn't want to believe that.

"Well,... yes." Merlin said slowly. "But he helped me. A lot. He told me about you, about our destiny and about my magic and everything I needed to know. He always helped me." Merlin tried to defend him. "He's the last of his kind and-"

"Wait a minute," Arthur cut him off. "So dragons can speak?" He asked. He thought they were just animals. Creatures of magic.

"Yes, actually." Merlin smiled. "Otherwise he wouldn't be able to tell me."

"And he did that just because he was kind? I don't think so," Arthur doubted. He saw how Merlin shifted slightly and he knew there was something more. "Merlin?" He asked.

"Um... It wasn't exactly for free..."Merlin shifted again. He didn't want to tell Arthur that he was the one who set Kilgharrah free, but he didn't want to lie either. It was too many lies for his short life. No, that was the end of secrets and lying. He wouldn't lie to him again. Not to Arthur.

"So? What did he want, Merlin?" Arthur asked, waiting for his answer.

"He..." Merlin swallowed hard and turned away from Arthur. "He wanted me to set him... free," he said and Arthur's eyes widened immediately. Merlin knew this was going to happen. Arthur got mad and he would yell at him again.

"Are you out of your mind, Merlin? So that was you who started his attack on Camelot? He killed so many innocent people!" Arthur said more loudly than he wanted.

"I didn't know, okay?" Merlin said as loudly as Arthur did. "I didn't know he wanted to attack Camelot! I thought he wanted to help me build the kingdom, not to destroy it in revenge!" Merlin cried.

"That was the reason my father killed all the dragons in the first place!" Arthur yelled. "They're too dangerous!" Suddenly Merlin winced. This was too much for him. He was the last Dragonlord and killing all dragons was the biggest mistake Uther has ever done.

As soon as Arthur saw tears forming in Merlin's eyes he knew he went too far and made a terrible mistake. He didn't want to hurt Merlin. He didn't want to be the reason he cried. "Merlin," Arthur said, his voice suddenly tender. "I... I'm sorry," he apologized.

Merlin just looked down, away from him. He tried to hide his face because he knew they were getting too close to his father and that made him want to cry even more. It was a year ago, but the wound was still fresh in his heart. "Dragons were supposed to be free," Merlin croaked silently, looking at the ground. "They were supposed to fly in the sky and no one was supposed to bother them. Only them and their... their Dragonlords." He said at last.

"Merlin, I'm sorry that the last Dragonlord died. I remember you were pretty upset about it." Arthur said slowly. Merlin was too quiet.

"The last Dragonlord isn't dead." Merlin whispered after he took a deep breath. There were tears streaming down his face. It was so hard to talk about this.

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked. Merlin wasn't making any sense, Balinor was the last one and he died.

"I... I'm the last... Dragonlord..." Merlin whispered at last. Arthur's eyes widened again. That wasn't possible, how could Merlin happen to be a Dragonlord? "Balinor," Merlin said with a shaky voice. "Was my father," he said as his shoulders shook and the first sob escaped his mouth. He'd never had a proper time to mourn his father's death. Just after he'd died, he had to hide it because Arthur didn't know. And then Gaius helped him, but that wasn't enough, he had to go out to stop Kilgharrah after that. He hadn't have time to cry about it again. He had to make sure Camelot was safe.

"Merlin," Arthur said slowly and put his hand on Merlin's shaking shoulder. He squeezed. "I'm so sorry," he said. And when he saw Merlin falling apart in front of him, he slowly turned him around and pulled him closer into a hug. He knew he told him that ' _no man is worth your tears_ ', but he knew that when it was about a lost father, it was nonsense. Merlin once told him that he never knew his father. But that was before the dragon attacked Camelot and before they met Balinor. And if Balinor was Merlin's father, then Merlin had only a day to be with him before he died. It had to be horrible.

Merlin kept crying in Arthur's arms, burying his head into the crook of Arthur's neck. That was the second time Arthur hugged him. He never had so many hugs in only two days. In fact, before this journey, Arthur had never hugged him.

Merlin enjoyed the feeling of being in Arthur's arms, safe. But he eventually pulled away when he didn't cry anymore. He didn't want Arthur to think that he did that only to be close to him. Even when it could be true. Well, after he had stopped crying it was pleasant to stay in Arthur's arms, so who could blame him?

They were sitting by the fire then for a few minutes, in silence. Merlin loved these moments between them. Just him, Arthur and fire. They didn't need to say anything, both of them were comfortable next to each other. The fire was crackling in the silent night. It was already dark, but neither of them wanted to go to sleep yet. They wanted to stay like this forever.

"Could you," Arthur said silently and looked into Merlin's eyes. They were sitting very close to each other, side by side, touching with their shoulders, and neither of them cared because they both wanted it. "Could you show me?" Arthur asked. "Show me your magic?" Merlin smiled at him and nodded. He was so happy that Arthur wanted to see him being himself.

Merlin reached his hand towards the fire and whispered, " _Upastige heortlufe_." He didn't even think about it, the words left his mouth before he could stop them. And in a second, a big glowing heart rose from the flames and it glowed. It glowed with the love Merlin felt towards Arthur. Merlin felt himself turning red, but why would he not show Arthur what he feels? It was about time, right?

Arthur smiled as he saw Merlin's eyes turning from gold back to bright blue. He loved it. And when he saw the big heart floating in front of him, he knew he loved Merlin even more. He leaned towards him so that when Merlin turned to him, they were even closer than when the bandits attacked them. Arthur saw Merlin's eyes looking at his lips and he couldn't help but smile a little. He licked his lips and leaned a bit closer. Their noses were almost touching now and he knew that this was when it was going to happen. This was when they were going to _kiss_. He was a bit surprised that it was Merlin who leaned in and closed the gap between them with a kiss on his lips.

At first it was shy. Merlin had never kissed another man and neither had Arthur, it was all new to them. The first kiss was just to explore how it felt. They pulled apart for a second, looking into each other's eyes, looking for something that would tell them if the other one liked it and if they could do it again. And in the next second they closed their eyes and were kissing again. But this time it wasn't shy or timid. This time it was more. Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin's waist and shoulder and Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur's neck, playing with his blonde hair on the back of his neck.

Arthur slowly opened his mouth, inviting Merlin in and Merlin didn't hesitate, he loved Arthur. He loved this. And Arthur loved him back. With his magic, blue eyes and dark hair, his neckerchief, _everything_.

Slowly, they pulled away, panting and their foreheads touching and smiling like two idiots. Because it finally happened. Their first kiss.

And they both loved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merlin's Spell (the fire heart):
> 
> My own translation again. I used oldenglishtranslator.co.uk again and merlin.wikia.com. In 5x13 Merlin creates a dragon from the flames and he says _"Upastige"_ , which means "to rise". So I deleted the dragon _(draca)_ and replaced it with _"heortlufe"_ , which according to the old english translator means "love which comes from the heart" :D


	6. The Village Fellindora

The first thing Arthur felt when he woke up next morning was that he wasn't sleeping alone. He slowly opened his eyes and when he saw the dark haired head resting on his chest, everything suddenly came back to him.

They _kissed._

They kissed last night and it was _amazing_. Arthur closed his eyes again and smiled as he felt Merlin's breathing on his collarbones. He didn't realize it earlier, but he was so in love with Merlin that it felt almost impossible. He just couldn't help himself, it felt like... like _destiny._

The sun was slowly rising, shining through the leaves and birds began singing. Arthur smelled Merlin's hair and breathed in his scent. He tightened his arms around the sleeping boy and kissed his tousled hair. Then he kissed his forehead and Merlin stirred a little. When Arthur saw Merlin smile, he leaned down and kissed his lips. Arthur found Merlin's hand and entwined their fingers as they kissed. Their legs were tangled together and Arthur couldn't recall a single moment in his life that felt better than _this_.

"G'mornin'," he whispered when the kiss ended and Merlin smiled and slowly opened his eyes, looking up at Arthur.

"I'd love to wake up like this every morning," Merlin croaked with his still sleepy voice.

"Me too." Arthur smiled.

Then Merlin kissed him one more time before he finally rolled over and slowly got up. They had to get going. He rolled his eyes when he heard Arthur's disapproving sigh from the ground.

They were only a few hours away from the village, so they ate something, gave the horses some water and finally set off. The journey felt so much easier when the tension between them was gone and they didn't have to pretend anymore.

They rode through the forest again, then along a meadow and around rocks and through a little valley until they finally spotted the village in front of them. It took about three hours and the sun was already high in the sky.

The people of Fellindora had a big field near the forest and Merlin with Arthur had to ride around it to get into the village. Fellindora was surrounded by the same forest from behind and by big white and grey rocks that grew into mountains in the distance, far away in the view. The Mountains of Isgard according to the map that Merlin managed not to lose.

They urged their horses to go faster and galloped into the village. Once they were inside, they found the nearest and probably the only tavern and left the horses in the stables. No one recognized them yet, but they didn't really meet anyone. There wasn't many people in the streets, they were probably working on the field, Arthur assumed.

Once they got inside the tavern though, everyone stared. Arthur's rich clothes and fine chainmail and armour was the first thing they noticed, although they probably haven't made the connection yet. Arthur wasn't wearing his usual red cloak with the golden Pendragon crest after all. He could have been just a nobleman in their eyes.

Merlin and Arthur sat to a table in the corner of the tavern. They ordered something warm to eat and as soon as the maid brought it to them they started eating. They were so hungry after three hours on road without breakfast. They'd figured they'd make it to the tavern for food and not waste any more time.

"Ah," Arthur smiled. "Finally something warm and good to eat after such a long time." He took a bite of his steak.

"What?" Merlin asked. "Are you saying you didn't like my cooking?" Merlin pouted a little. "And I tried my best not to poison you!" He laughed and Arthur laughed with him.

"You must admit that this is much better than whatever we ate on our way here." Arthur pointed out and looked at his meal. It was a beef meat steak, cheese and pottage. Much better than dried meat or Merlin's so called 'soup' he had in the last two days.

"Okay, but-" Merlin started, but he was cut off by the maid who came to them again.

"Would you also like something to drink?" She asked politely and looked at them. Arthur wanted to answer so he looked at her, but she was already smiling and winking at Merlin. Merlin didn't see it, he was still eating and looking at his food, but as soon as he looked up at her and she winked at him again, Arthur got a bit jealous. No one was supposed to look as his Merlin like that, that was Arthur's job.

"Yes," Arthur said a bit too harshly than he wanted to and she looked at him quickly. Well, at least she wasn't looking at his Merlin again. "Two mugs of mead please, that would be all, thank you." He said and the maid nodded, smiled and rushed away. He was looking at her until she disappeared behind the corner to prepare their drinks and then he finally looked back. He was a bit surprised to find Merlin looking straight at him with a goofy grin.

"What?" Arthur asked with a ridiculously confused expression. Merlin laughed.

"Don't tell me you're jealous," Merlin couldn't help but laugh a bit again, "of me?" He asked, still grinning like an idiot. Arthur was looking at him, his face suddenly blank for a few seconds before he quickly shook his head, muttered something like 'no' and took another bite of his steak. "What?" Merlin asked, laughing. He saw Arthur was blushing. "Sorry, I didn't hear you," he said and leaned a bit forward, clasping his hands together under his chin, his elbows on the table.

"Merlin," Arthur pointed a finger at him and looked at him. "You're mine, okay? No one can look at you like she did." Arthur said and as soon as he realized what he just said he quickly looked down, but it was too late.

"So basically," Merlin smiled, "you're admitting that you were _jealous."_ He smirked, looking at Arthur who was sulking in front of him.

"Absolutely not, that is ridiculous." Arthur shook his head.

"Clotpole," Merlin muttered as he finally started eating again.

"Idiot," Arthur said under his breath and after he looked at Merlin one last time, he started eating too. The food they ordered wasn't really that bad. He was glad they found a tavern where they could eat and book a room. Arthur couldn't wait to lie in his bed and fall asleep, warm in his blankets. Preferably right next to Merlin. It was only lunch time though and they had plenty of things to do to prepare for the fight with the monster. Like _find it_ , for starters.

After they ate their lunch, they paid and went straight to the owner of the tavern. They had to book a room first so they could go back there in the evening. The owner was an old man with a long beard and bold head. He was slightly overweight and he was looking at them with an interest. Maybe he thought he could get some money because Arthur looked quite rich. When they went to him and asked for a room, he frowned though.

"I'm afraid I have no more rooms left," he informed them, but when he saw the sad expression on Merlin's face, he continued. "Not for you at least. There's only one empty room in my tavern, but it is with a double bed. It serves for couples on travels, which used to come here quite often before the monster appeared." He said and looked at them again suspiciously.

"Well," the prince said and turned to Merlin, who nodded slightly and shrugged. "It seems we will have to book your last room then." The owner smiled a bit and took their money. When they headed towards the staircase, he called.

"It's the last one on the highest floor," when Merlin and Arthur nodded, he went away, smirking slightly.

"I don't like him," Merlin said quietly and Arthur nodded, looking after the man. He wasn't very likable.

"Neither do I, but what can I do." He shrugged and went up the stairs with Merlin following closely behind. The tavern wasn't the biggest one they'd seen, but it was quite big for such a village.

When they found their room and entered, they (Merlin) put their things on the floor. The room wasn't very big. It had a little fireplace like any other room to keep them warm in the night and a window. There was a big basin on a small table in the corner of the room with a jug for water. Then another little table and one chair next to the window and one wardrobe for their clothes.

In the middle of the room, with one end pressed against the wall, was a big double bed with red rose petals all over it and a whole red rose resting in the middle.

"Great," Merlin sighed. "So now they think we're a couple." Arthur went to the bed and with Merlin's help they removed all of the petals. Then they put them on the table and Arthur went for the rose, which he gave to Merlin with a little bow. Merlin blushed, smiled and took the rose.

"They don't think we're a couple," Arthur assured him as he wrapped his hands slowly around Merlin's waist and pulled him closer. "They just think we took the room because there was no other left. They don't have to know we really are a couple," he smiled and kissed Merlin's cheek. Merlin then turned his head so he kissed Arthur's lips softly. He smiled into the kiss. "Besides," Arthur turned them around in a dance-like move and sat on the bed with Merlin sitting in his lap with his legs hanging over Arthur's thigh and his arms around Arthur's neck. "We're going to leave soon anyway, just after we get rid of the monster." He smiled.

After they packed out all of their things (and even though they didn't really have a lot of them) it was already late afternoon when they finally got to leave their chamber. They wanted to go into the village and ask people around to learn more about the attacks. That was the boring part of their journey, but they had to do it and help in any way possible.

After Arthur told the villagers why they've come there and assured them they'd do their best to help them with the beast, they started asking around. They asked a few men and women and they all said the same. The ones who saw the creature said that it was huge and black with golden eyes (this was a probability, some said they were red) and that it was flying. They also said that the monster has been attacking them for two weeks already and that the attacks usually happen during night, every two or three days. They figured that tonight it was not going to attack because the villagers said it killed two people the night before.

Honestly as soon as Arthur heard it he was upset. They should have come sooner, then it wouldn't have happened. On the other hand he and Merlin had a night off (probably) and it was full Moon that night, so after they finished interrogating, they decided to take a quick walk around the village. They wanted to protect Fellindora, plus it meant that they could be together alone.

So after the Sun went down behind the horizon and it got dark, Arthur took his sword and with Merlin they went to the far end of Fellindora. They wanted to walk around the whole village and help by guarding it with a few other villagers as Arthur had suggested, but as soon as the stars came out with the Moon, Merlin insisted to stop, and Arthur didn't blame him – the stars were beautiful. They lay down together on the grass, enlightened by the Moon and stared up at the sky.

Merlin pointed up at the stars. "That's um... that's a constellation called a Swan," Merlin whispered.

"Why is it called a Swan?" Arthur asked. It didn't look like a swan at all, more like some weird cross.

"Because it _looks_ like a swan, you dollophead." Merlin laughed a bit, sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds. He reached his hand to Arthur's hand and entwined their fingers.

"No it doesn't," Arthur argued. But then something different caught his attention. He quickly pointed up to the sky and with a big smile on his face said: "Look! A shooting star! Did you see it?"

"Yeah," Merlin nodded and smiled.

"Come on then, make a wish." Arthur smiled. Merlin closed his eyes and then rolled so he was lying on Arthur and kissed his lips softly. "What did you wish?" Arthur smiled fondly.

"To be with you forever." Merlin told him and kissed Arthur again. Arthur kissed him back and after a few more minutes, they finally got up and continued on their way around the village. As Merlin looked around, he realized Fellindora was much bigger than Ealdor. It took them about an hour to finish the circle. When they made it back to the field, they stopped again to look at the full Moon.

As they stood there and enjoyed the silence and lack of monsters around, Arthur reached out to put his hands around Merlin's waist. He shouldn't have done that though, Merlin yelped and jumped at the touch, making Arthur narrow his eyes. It was not like he startled Merlin, he knew Arthur was behind him, so what was it? "Merlin, are you ticklish?" Arthur asked and his question was followed by awkward silence.

"...No?" Merlin lied, but regretted it immediately. Arthur laughed and tickled him a bit on his waist, making Merlin's legs weak. Merlin almost fell on the ground laughing if Arthur didn't catch him in his strong arms. He stopped and looked into Merlin's blue eyes. Merlin glanced down to his lips and in that moment Arthur started tickling Merlin again, making Merlin laugh with tears in his eyes.

"What was that, Merlin?" Arthur teased. "I thought you said you _weren't_ ticklish." Arthur laughed and mercifully released Merlin from his grip.

Merlin fell down into the grass and stayed there, still laughing. Then he pointed up at Arthur's face with his finger without looking. "You are going to pay for that, Arthur Pendragon." He managed to say as he put his arm back down and took a deep breath. Arthur just laughed.

"Come on, we have to stay up all night, you know that." Arthur smiled and when Merlin turned his head to look at him and raised his arm, Arthur took it and helped him up.

Then Merlin dusted himself off and rolled his eyes. "Okay, let's go, but no more tickling."

"So you _are_ ticklish, then." Arthur grinned. "I thought you wouldn't admit that."

"Shut up."

"That's what I always say." Arthur smirked, but Merlin just punched him in the arm.

"My turn then, don't you think?" He smiled and started walking again. Arthur followed.

xoXÖXox

All those books he had were useless against what Merlin had. Gaius frowned as he closed yet another book and he sighed, removing his glasses. Merlin's nightmares were bad as they were and if they got any worse, he didn't know what would it do to Merlin. The poor boy's been through enough and the one person who was supposed to help him, couldn't.

Gaius stood up and went to his bookshelf to find some other book that might help. He found one about herbs' usage in magic and he opened it, searching for some herb that might help.

He's been trying to make potions, the same ones he gave to Morgana, then stronger ones, then even stronger ones (with magic), but _nothing_ helped. He was working on that same potion again and after he found a flower that might help from the book, he took his money and went outside to find it in the market.

Suddenly, the warning bells started ringing just as he was on his way down the stairs to the courtyard. He looked around and saw guards running into the castle and wondered what had happened and if the king would need his assistance.

And right when he was about to leave, a guard approached him. "Gaius!" He said. "There was a break in to the vaults and the thief has stolen something. The king requires your presence in the vaults immediately."

"Thank you for informing me, I'm on my way." Gaius nodded and followed the guard into the castle and down into the vaults.

Uther was already standing there with the other guards when Gaius arrived.

"Gaius," the king greeted the old physician and showed him the vaults. "The thief has managed to escape, unfortunately, but he stole something. Look," he showed Gaius a dusty shelf full of various magical objects. There was one spot without any dust though – that's where the stolen artifact used to be. Everything else was untouched.

"It seems the thief knew what he was looking for." Gaius said as he looked closer. The spot was in a shape of a box, so they didn't really know which box was taken. "I can't tell what was taken." Gaius said and turned to Uther, who was already going through a list of the artifacts in the vaults.

"I know," he said as he was reading the list. Then he pointed at something on the list and frowned. "There used to be a box with a dagger inside." He said. "So called 'dragon dagger'. Do you know what was the purpose of such a thing, Gaius?"

Gaius frowned and turned around to look at the shelf again and also to hide his face. He didn't know what to say. He's read about the dragon dagger. It was only ever used by Dragonlords, but not in the last hundred years. He had no idea who would need such a thing now, unless they wanted the dragons to come back.

"Gaius?" Uther asked again, growing impatient.

"I've heard about this dagger, my Lord." Gaius turned to face Uther again. "But it hasn't been used in over a hundred years, and I'm not sure what the purpose is." When Uther frowned, Gaius continued. "It is said that this dagger holds great magical power inside, but only a Dragonlord or a High Priestess should be able to use it."

"And what does it do? Do we have a reason to worry?"

"I'm not sure what the dagger does, but it's connected to every dragon and Dragonlords-"

"Who don't exist anymore."

"Yes, my Lord, but I am afraid the dagger keeps its power as long as at least one dragon is alive." Gaius said and immediately thought of Kilgharrah. The dragon was somewhere out there, but Merlin said he had it under control. He wasn't going to attack Camelot again. "When I was young, my mentor told me that the dagger requires a sacrifice in order to work. Someone with strong magic."

"What do you think they plan to do with it? With the power?" Uther asked.

"I can't answer that question, sire. My knowledge ends here." Gaius bowed his head and Uther nodded. Then he turned to his knights.

"Send searching parties for the thief. Look through the city and in the forest, they couldn't have got far."

The knights nodded and hurried away. Uther went back to the throne room to continue in his interrupted council meeting and Gaius finally arrived at the market.

He didn't tell Uther everything he knew about the dagger, but he couldn't have let him know. The dagger had a power to revive all dragons that once lived. But for that to happen, a high priest or priestess of old religion had to make a sacrifice – they had to kill someone with strong magic, using the dagger. Then a long ritual followed and strong magic was used and someone had to use the dragon tongue, which only the Dragonlords knew. And that was only Merlin, so Gaius assumed the danger wasn't big, plus the knights of Camelot were looking for it now and if they found it, the danger would be gone.

Whoever managed to steal the dagger couldn't have enough knowledge to actually use it and cause any damage to Camelot anyway. And if they did, which was highly unlikely to happen, the dragons would have to obey Merlin (which was a good thing), but Uther would want to kill them all again (which was a very, very bad thing).

Merlin's nightmares were more important now. Gaius sighed and looked through the market for the right herb, until he found it and bought it. Then he returned to his chambers and continued working on the yellow potion.

He hoped Merlin's nightmares weren't that bad in the village and forest. He also hoped the young warlock would return to him soon so he could see the disgust on his face after he would make him drink that potion he was preparing. (Not that Gaius was evil, but no one else was honest about the taste of his potions but Merlin and he missed his boy.) Hopefully it would finally work and help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always use the map of Camelot when I'm writing and after some research I found out that The Mountains of Isgard were probably mentioned only once in the whole show - it's the cave where Arthur went to look for the Mortaeus flower to save Merlin in 1x04 The Poisoned Chalice, and where he met Nimueh. And now to the second part of the chapter. You're all probably wondering what the story of dragon dagger is going to be about, well... it's not going to be in this fanfic. The dagger has its own story and I want to write a sequel for it. I have some sort of a plot... kinda. And I'll do my best to write the sequel this July in Camp NaNoWriMo :)
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter and that you're looking forward to what happens next! :D Please let me know what you think ;)


	7. Unexpected Visitors

The night was long and not very warm, but some of the villagers stayed up until the morning to protect their houses and so did Arthur and Merlin, going around the village again and again. No wonder they were exhausted when the sun rose again the next day.

Whereas the rest of the villagers were waking up, Arthur and Merlin were returning to the inn to get some sleep. They went inside and got something for breakfast from the maid with a promise to pay for it later, and when they wanted to go up the stairs to their room, the owner's wife stopped them.

"My lord!" She smiled at them when they turned to look at her. "I am so sorry that you had to get that uncomfortable room!" She apologized. "We can switch your room with someone else if you'd like to, sire, someone would surely offer that to the prince of Camelot." She smiled at them, but Arthur shook his head.

"No, it's really alright, I don't mind." He smiled and tried hard not to yawn. "I don't want to cause any troubles and we're not staying for long, so it's perfectly okay." He said. "Everyone can stay in their room. My servant will sleep on the floor."

"Of course, my lord." The woman smiled and bowed her head, finally letting them get to their room. Arthur was just glad she stopped talking, every noise sounded like thunder in his head, which hurt. And Merlin wasn't any better, they were both exhausted and wanted to get as much rest as they could in the next few hours. The monster was most likely to attack in the night anyway.

Merlin opened the door to their room and let Arthur get in first. Then he entered too, and closed the door behind them.

"I'm so tired." He said. "And I'm glad I can get some sleep now that the nightmares are finally gone."

"Yes, the druids were very kind to fix you." Arthur smiled as he took off his boots and put them to the door. Merlin did the same and then went to Arthur to help him get out of the chainmail.

"It's a shame your father killed so many of them." Merlin said and closed his eyes briefly. It was so hard to force them open again.

"I know." Arthur sadly nodded. "When I'm king, I'll invite them back into Camelot." He smiled and Merlin smiled too as he touched his shoulder to remove the shiny piece of metal.

"Thank you for that."

"No need to thank me, Merlin." Arthur said. "I'll do everything in my power to make you happy." He smiled and took Merlin's hand, kissing his knuckles. Merlin smiled.

"And I'll continue protecting you." He said and Arthur snorted.

"When do I need protecting?"

"Every damn day, you dollophead." Merlin smiled and couldn't help but yawn. Arthur smiled and kissed him.

"If you say so." He said and finally went to bed after Merlin removed his chainmail and put it aside on the table. He himself took off his jacket and went to lie next to Arthur.

Arthur stretched his arms to allow Merlin lay his head on his chest and then he put his arm around Merlin's shoulder while Merlin put his arm around Arthur's waist. Merlin then used magic to cover them with the blanket and as soon as he closed his eyes, he fell asleep.

Arthur's kiss on the top of his head was the last thing he felt.

xoXÖXox

In the very same night, a dark figure in a long dark coat was walking through the forest near the castle of Camelot. It was Morgana Pendragon, with the hood over her head and long dark wavy hair fluttering in the light cool breeze of the night.

She was carrying a box with druid runes on it and she was walking fast until she reached an old tall tree.

Another person was waiting there for her in the dark. Her hair was also wavy, but blonde and she was wearing a red dress. It was Morgause. As soon as Morgana saw her, she smiled and ran to give her sister a hug.

"Morgause." Morgana smiled as Morgause hugged her back. "I'm so happy to see you again."

"As am I, sister." Morgause replied and pulled away. "Do you have what I asked you to bring here?"

Morgana nodded. "Yes. It was easy to steal the keys from Uther." She smirked. "That old fool doesn't even guard his own chambers well enough."

"Show me." Morgause pointed to the box and Morgana gave it to her.

"What is it? I felt magic when I took it from the vaults." Morgana asked. Morgause hadn't told her yet, but she said it was very important for them so they could succeed and take the throne.

Morgause's eyes turned gold for a second as she used a spell to unlock the lock on the box. Then she opened it and smiled as she carefully pulled out a dagger. It was a long, blue dagger with a metal scabbard carved into a shape of a dragon that was wrapped around the blade. Its eyes were gold and so were the runes on the silver hilt of the dagger.

"It's beautiful." Morgana said.

"It is, my sister." Morgause smiled as she examined the dagger for any damage. "It's very old, but it still has its power." She said. "It's called a dragon dagger and it's going to help us bring Camelot to her knees." She smirked at Morgana, who smirked back.

"How?" She asked, getting excited.

"With this, we can revive every dragon that was alive in the last one hundred years and we can make them listen to us. They will all attack Camelot for what Uther has done to them." She smiled.

"But what about Dragonlords, I heard-"

"They don't exist anymore." Morgause cut her off. "The last one was named Balinor, but when I went to pay him a visit, I only found his grave. He lived alone for many years, and had no family and no friends. That means that all the Dragonlords are dead and now the power of this dagger belongs to us." Morgause touched Morgana's cheek and looked into her green eyes. "Do you know what this means, sister?"

Morgan's eyes turned cold and she smirked. "Camelot will be finally mine."

xoXÖXox

_He shielded his eyes with his hand as he looked up to the sky. It was light blue with a sun above his head and no white cloud around. He felt warm, but also a bit anxious._

_All around him was a never-ending green meadow with flowers and yet he had a feeling something was wrong. He felt like... he thought Arthur had died, but why did he think such a thing? Maybe because of the empty feeling in his stomach?_

_And then the feeling disappeared and he heard birds. He turned to look at them and had to narrow his eyes as they flew across the sky._

_Something was... different. He wasn't alone anymore._

" _Merlin." It was a gentle and loving voice that called his name. He turned around and saw his prince with a big smile on his face. Arthur wore his favourite red tunic and was walking towards Merlin._

" _Arthur." Merlin breathed and ran towards him. As soon as he reached him, he threw his arms around his broad shoulders and buried his face in the crook of his neck. Arthur wrapped his arms around him and tightened the hug._

" _It's alright, Merlin." Arthur said and Merlin pulled away._

" _I don't know why, but I thought... I thought you'd died." He whispered with tears in eyes. Arthur reached his hand to brush the single tear that escaped Merlin's eye away and then he cupped Merlin's face and pulled him closer to kiss him._

" _I love you." Arthur said when they parted and looked into Merlin's eyes._

_Merlin's breath hitched and he swallowed. They were together, right? So Arthur did love him. Did Merlin love him back? Wasn't it a bit early for such a declaration in their relationship? But he did love him, didn't he?_

_He looked into Arthur's loving eyes and smiled as he prepared himself to tell Arthur he loved him back. Then his vision suddenly started to blur and he knew he wasn't crying this time. "What is happening?" He asked, but Arthur started to disappear. "No! Arthur, I love you too!"_

_But it was too late. Arthur was gone and the warmth of the sun on his skin disappeared too._

xoXÖXox

He slowly opened his eyes and yawned. The warm feeling on his face returned and he put his hands on his eyes to block the annoying sun. The sun reminded him of something... and a meadow... but he couldn't really remember. He was so happy he didn't have another nightmare. What the druids did really helped him. Was he even dreaming about anything while he slept? He couldn't remember, but he didn't really care. What was more important was that right next to him was Arthur, still sleeping and snoring softly.

Merlin chuckled as he pushed Arthur's blonde hair out of his face. He looked adorable, but he had to wake him up. They've slept long enough.

"Arthur, wake up." Merlin smiled and leaned down to kiss Arthur's cheek. "Rise and shine!" He laughed.

Arthur groaned and turned away from Merlin.

"Come on, we have duties, remember?" Merlin said and stood up to go around the bed. Then he took Arthur's blanket away. "Up and at 'em!"

"Shut up, Merlin." Arthur groaned again, but finally opened his eyes.

"I see nothing has changed with waking you up, you're still a grumpy prat and-"

A pillow landed on Merlin's face and he almost fell over. He quickly picked it up with his magic and threw it at Arthur while taking away any other pillows on the bed with his magic.

"Not fair!" Arthur smiled and stood up. "I'm hungry." He proclaimed.

"You don't say," Merlin laughed and looked out of the window. "We've almost slept through lunch so-"

"Are you kidding me? We slept so long?" Arthur's eyes widened and he finally went to the wardrobe to put some clothes on. Merlin did the same as he rolled his eyes.

"Clotpole," he muttered. Arthur didn't hear him.

They left their room and went down to the tavern to order some meal. Arthur was right when he said he was hungry, and Merlin started to feel pretty hungry too.

After lunch they decided to go to the forest to try and find the monster's den and try to get rid of it while it was asleep. The villagers said it attacked only in the night, so that meant it might be sleeping during day. That would be a great advantage.

Arthur took his sword and changed into his armour (with Merlin's help of course) and then they left the tavern.

As soon as they did that, people in the street looked at them and some of them bowed. Arthur started walking forward and Merlin was walking slightly behind him. He was still a mere servant after all.

Then some girl stopped them. "My lord," she bowed and smiled at Arthur. He smiled back.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"You're already helping, sire. And I wanted to thank you for your help." She smiled again and gave Arthur a beautiful pink flower from her bucket. Arthur smiled at her and accepted the flower.

"Thank you." He said.

"We thank you, sire." She replied and bowed again. Then she walked away and they continued on their way to the woods.

When they finally reached the field and entered the forest, Arthur turned to Merlin and gave him the pink flower. Merlin (who was maybe a little bit jealous after the encounter with the village girl) blushed and smiled.

"Thanks." He said and took the flower. "I don't know what to do with it though."

"Neither do I." Arthur laughed and they continued.

"Where do you think it sleeps?" Merlin asked. "The monster I mean."

"I don't know, but I'd say it's some sort of a cave." Arthur told him as they walked further and further away from the village. "We should get closer to the mountains." He slightly turned left so they would walk around the village.

"Yeah, I guess so." Merlin said. Then he suddenly yelped and Arthur turned around, only to start laughing. Merlin was sitting on the ground and there was a grey cat, rubbing its head against Merlin's thigh.

"Scared of kittens, are you?" Arthur laughed and Merlin rolled his eyes.

"It's not a _kitten_." Merlin mumbled. "And I didn't notice it following us, okay?" He said and carefully stood up. The cat started walking slowly around his legs. "Do you think it's a wild cat?"

"Probably some of the villagers." Arthur replied as he knelt down to scratch the cat's head in between its huge ears. "It's beautiful." He smiled.

"We should take it back to the village." Merlin said.

"We have to keep looking, Merlin. It found its way here, it can find its way back." Arthur argued and stood up again. The cat looked up at him and then rubbed its head against Arthur's knee. Arthur sighed as Merlin grinned. "It's gonna follow us anyway."

"So we're taking it with us." Merlin smiled and started walking again. Arthur followed him and took his hand. They were alone, so they could hold hands. The cat meowed and ran after them, slowing down when it was next to them.

"I like it to hold your hand like that." Arthur admitted after a while. Merlin blushed and looked at him as they walked.

"Me too." He smiled. Arthur smiled at him and kissed him. When they parted, the cat was staring at them and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"I'm beginning to regret we took the cat with us."

Merlin laughed and looked down at it. "He doesn't mean it like that." He told the cat and Arthur rolled his eyes again.

"Now I'm gonna lose my boyfriend to a cat." He said. Instead of laughing though, Merlin frowned and hugged him.

"You're never gonna lose me, Arthur." He said and they both smiled. Then he pulled away and took Arthur's hand again and chuckled. "So we're _boyfriends_ then." He said.

"I suppose we are, what else do you want to call it?" Arthur smiled.

"A couple? Partners? Lovers?" Merlin laughed. "No, I like boyfriends."

"Me too."

"I never thought I'd be with someone." Merlin admitted as they continued. "I mean... I never found anyone in Ealdor and when I came to Camelot I was just too busy saving your ass and-"

"And that means that I'm the perfect option for you, doesn't it?" Arthur smiled and squeezed Merlin's hand. He glanced next to him – the cat was still there.

"I guess it does." Merlin smiled and squeezed back. He was so lucky to have Arthur. At first he didn't like him. At all. But after a few weeks spent in his service, he began to care about him. Especially after Arthur risked his life to save Merlin after he drank from the poisoned chalice.

Since then, Arthur became someone that Merlin wanted to take care of. Not only he had to protect him (destiny and stuff), he _wanted_ to protect him, because no matter how much they insulted each other, Arthur always ended up protecting Merlin too.

And being with Arthur, being _boyfriends_... it was something Merlin never dared to think about until he found out Arthur felt the same. That indeed made him a very lucky person. Especially after Arthur accepted his magic, that was something Merlin had always been afraid of.

They spent the next two hours just walking around until they reached the mountains of Isgard. The forest disappeared and so did the soft ground with green grass under their feet. It got replaced by rocks and stones and when they looked in front of them, the mountains were much closer than before.

There were large rocks and a few trees and when they got closer, they found a cave.

"Do you think this is where the monster sleeps?" Merlin asked when Arthur unsheathed his sword and started walking more carefully.

"I don't know, but we have to look inside." He said.

"We have to?" Merlin mumbled, but followed Arthur anyway. The cat started meowing and stayed behind. It knew there was danger in the cave and it didn't want to follow them anymore.

"What if-"

"Shut up, Merlin." Arthur hissed as they finally entered the cave. It was dark and they couldn't see anything, so Arthur turned around to Merlin and whispered: "Can you make light?" He asked.

Even though Arthur couldn't see it, Merlin nodded and reached out his hand. " _Leoht_." Merlin whispered into his palm and a bright white light appeared. He saw Arthur's small smile before the prince turned around and continued into the darkness.

They carefully went forward for about ten minutes until they finally reached the end of the cave. It just stopped, it didn't continue. And it was empty. Merlin went closer to Arthur and made the light bigger so it would enlighten the far corner of the cave.

As soon as he did that, they both took a step back. The monster wasn't there, but there were at least five dead bodies. An old woman, a boy about 20 years old, a little girl...

"They're not..." Merlin swallowed as he looked away. "They're not... eaten." He said and Arthur nodded. Then he turned around too.

"So either is the monster storing them up or it just doesn't want to eat them." He closed his eyes and then looked at Merlin with a sad expression.

"Or it's just killing for fun." Merlin sighed and took another step back. "We should get back, Arthur." He said and after Arthur nodded, they both left the cave.

Once outside, the cat ran to them and started rubbing against their legs again. Merlin sighed and picked it up, turning away from the cave. "What do you think it does with the dead people?" He asked.

"I have no idea." Arthur said as he looked down. "I don't even want to know. All we know for now is that the monster is killing apparently for fun and we have to get rid of it."

"And get the hell out of here, the monster's gonna come home eventually." Merlin said and put the cat down. Then he and Arthur started walking back to the village.

The journey back seemed much longer than two hours. The cat was still following them, unaware of what they'd found in the cave and what problem did they have to solve. They had to kill a monster that killed many people and apparently could even fly. And they had to use magic to kill it, but carefully because no one could see them.

It wasn't a nice situation. But the villagers needed help and they were gonna get it.

Arthur and Merlin finally got back to the village and the cat left them and disappeared inside some house. They both returned to the tavern to eat something to dinner and they started thinking.

"Maybe it's a vegetarian." Merlin said as he put down a cup with his drink. Arthur looked at him unbelievably.

"A vegetarian?" He asked and Merlin shrugged. "A vegetarian? Seriously, Merlin." Arthur rolled his eyes. "Have you ever seen a magical creature that was a vegetarian?"

"No, but-"

"Killing for fun is much more reasonable explanation." Arthur said and sighed. Merlin rolled his eyes. "Sorry," Arthur apologized, making Merlin widen his eyes. He's never really apologized before. "I just can't stop thinking about it."

"It's alright, we're going to win and save the villagers." Merlin smiled slightly to try and encourage Arthur.

Arthur slightly leaned forward and lowered his voice. "But what if the spell-"

"Do you trust me?" Merlin smiled.

"Of course I do." Arthur replied.

"Then trust me and don't think about the spell. You only need to _trust_ me." Merlin smiled and Arthur smiled back. He would have kissed him right there if they weren't in a tavern full of people.

Instead he nodded, and wanted to thank Merlin, but he never got the chance. What cut him off was a loud scream from the outside that made everyone turn and look at the door.

_The beast came to visit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who doesn't love a good old cliffhanger, right? :D  
> (yes okay I'm sorry) XD
> 
> What do you think happens next? :D Why do you think the monster is so dangerous? Is there something not even the druids know? ;)


	8. The Shift in Magic

Shortly after the first shriek from the outside started, both Arthur and Merlin grabbed their weapons and ran outside. The villagers were scattered across the main square – a few houses in front of the tavern. But the shriek was closer to the woods, so the monster had to come from there.

People ran away as Arthur and Merlin ran forward. And then they stopped.

There was the monster. The _beast._ It was bigger than they thought, slightly bigger than Freya when she turned to the Bastet at midnight. It had a big mouth full of teeth and the whole head looked like a wolf without its fur. It was white and its huge wings were grey.

Arthur's eyes widened. "Everyone run away and hide inside your homes!" He yelled at the few villagers who had stayed behind and were staring at the monster. None of them were good fighters and they would only slow Arthur down.

Not even Merlin was a fighter, and he couldn't use magic in front of all the villagers. Someone could always be watching them from a window.

Arthur quickly glanced at Merlin, but his servant was looking at the monster. He had to get the monster away from his servant and make it focus only on him.

"Hey!" Arthur yelled and started waving his hands. The monster looked at him and showed its white teeth.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Merlin hissed, but Arthur ignored him and slowly moved away from Merlin.

"I'm here! Attack me!" He yelled at the monster. Then he prepared his sword and hoped the spell would work.

The monster spread its wings and kicked the ground with its... hoof, while looking at Arthur. Its eyes were big and bright gold and furious and so _hungry_.

Arthur took a few deep breaths and tightened his grip on the deadly weapon. "What are you waiting for!" He yelled and took a step forward. He could see Merlin's frightened face, but he had to ignore it to keep him safe and away from their opponent.

The monster started running towards Arthur and the prince prepared to attack, when suddenly the beast stopped. It stopped and sniffed something and then looked straight at Merlin.

Oh no.

xoXÖXox

"Merlin! Move!"

He heard Arthur's call. It seemed so distant and unimportant as the monster started running towards him. It didn't slow down and Merlin didn't move away.

Its eyes were so... _gold._ So pure gold, even golder than his or Kilgharrah's. It was a creature of magic, a dangerous creature that killed many people not only in Camelot. But for some reason, to Merlin, it seemed beautiful and so irresistible in that moment.

He couldn't move or use his magic in self-defence, all he could do was stand there and hopelessly stare into the monster's gold eyes as it run closer and closer to him.

He couldn't even hear Arthur anymore.

xoXÖXox

"Merlin!" Arthur yelled as he was running to help his boyfriend. What the hell was he doing? Waiting for the monster to attack? Did he want to use magic in front of the entire village and get himself killed or something?

Arthur sped up. The monster was closer and closer to Merlin and he was still _so_ _far_ _away._ There was no way he could get to him in time. Why did he distance himself in the beginning of the fight? Of course Merlin would do something stupid.

"Merlin, watch out!" He shouted, but it didn't help. The monster stopped three feet in front of his servant and stared into Merlin's blue eyes with its gold eyes. Slowly, but surely, Merlin's eyes turned gold and Arthur's eyes widened.

What the hell was happening? "Merlin!" Arthur tried one more time, but it was too late.

The monster opened its mouth and its teeth disappeared. Right after that, Merlin's mouth opened and a white orb of light flew out of him, getting bigger and bigger as it was hovering in front of his face.

Then the white light started moving towards the monster's opened mouth, but in that moment Arthur was finally close enough and he took his enchanted sword that started glowing blue and he ran the monster through, accidentally running into the orb of light and probably absorbing it as well. He didn't notice that though and he stabbed his long sword inside the beast's chest and quickly took out his dagger in case it didn't help.

The monster let out a horrible noise and its teeth appeared again as its mouth closed and opened a few times. Its eyes turned from gold to black and it fell to the ground. It closed its eyes after that.

When Arthur was sure the monster was dead, he finally turned around to Merlin, only to find him unconscious on the ground.

He didn't care that the villagers heard the monster dying and went out of their hiding places to confirm their hopes and expectations. He didn't even care that his sword was still stuck inside the dead body of the monster or that the villagers started clapping and calling his name in unison.

All he cared about was Merlin.

xoXÖXox

It was evening and the fire in Morgana's fireplace was slowly burning and spreading warmth into the calm chambers. Gwen smiled as she arranged the flowers Morgana has received from another secret admirer. There was still more and more of them, people were happy she was back after the year of hopeless searching.

Suddenly Morgana gasped and almost fell over.

"Are you alright?" Gwen immediately asked her lady and went to help her stand up. To her surprise, Morgana pushed her away and got up on her own. "What happened?" Gwen asked, still worried.

"It's alright." Morgana told her and faked a smile. "Everything's fine. Y-you should leave."

"But I-"

"It's _alright,_ Gwen." Morgana told her maybe a bit too harshly and Gwen nodded.

"Yes, my lady." She turned around and left, leaving Morgana alone. Once the door closed, Morgana's eyes widened. She has never felt something like this, what was it?

It felt like... strong magic, but it felt _wrong._ Something must have happened. She was a bit surprised that she felt it, her magic was still weak. Weaker than Morgause's magic for sure, she was still learning.

But that wave of magic she felt? She had to tell her sister.

xoXÖXox

He called his name, but there was no response. Then he remembered that Merlin's eyes were gold while the monster was using its deadly magic or what it was. He carefully touched his eyelid and opened one of his eyes to look at his iris.

He sighed with relief when he saw it was blue.

Then he picked Merlin up and smiled at the villagers a few times when they thanked him. He also refused any help with his servant because he was afraid the problem was of a magical kind and therefore he was the only one who could help Merlin.

He carried Merlin all the way back to the tavern and some girl opened the door for him, seeing he had full hands. When he made it inside, he met the owner's wife again.

"Oh gosh, is he alright?" She asked as she looked at Merlin's lifeless form in Arthur's arms.

"It's nothing, he probably only fainted when he saw the monster or something." He tried to smile. "He does that."

The maid nodded and lost her interest in Merlin. "Did you manage to kill it, my lord?" She asked quickly with big curious and hopeful eyes.

"I did." Arthur nodded and tried to shift Merlin's weight on his other arm. He was much heavier than he looked. "But now I need to go, if you'll excuse me." He smiled politely and didn't wait for her response as he made his way up the stairs.

While he was walking back to their room, Merlin turned his head and moaned. Then he stirred again and mumbled something incoherently. It could have been a spell or Arthur was just too tired to try to focus on his servant's words. All he wanted to do was to get to their room, lay Merlin down on their bed and try to figure out what was happening.

And he did get to their room. He kicked the door open and carefully laid Merlin down on the bed. Then he went to close the door and looked at his boyfriend. He looked like he was asleep.

But he wasn't, and Arthur had no idea what was wrong with him.

He waited. He waited for almost an hour when Merlin finally stirred again and mumbled something.

"Arthur..." Merlin whispered and as soon as Arthur realized he was calling his name, he stood up from his chair and went closer to Merlin in the bed. "Arthur."

"I'm here." Arthur answered and touched Merlin's forehead. He didn't seem to have a fever, but something happened when they were fighting the monster. The monster _did_ something to Merlin.

"What ha-" Merlin cleared his throat and coughed. Then he opened one eye to look up at Arthur. "What happened?" He finally asked.

"I killed it, but you fainted when I turned around." He explained and Merlin frowned.

"I fainted?"

"It seems so, yeah." Arthur smirked. "But it couldn't have been natural, the monster did something to you." He paused and looked at Merlin. He looked normal. Sleepy. "Don't you remember?"

Merlin frowned and slowly sat up on the bed. Arthur sat down next to him and touched his shoulder to comfort him if he needed it. "Umm... I don't remember anything." Merlin finally said and touched his forehead. "My head hurts." He said and closed his eyes.

Arthur went to the table to pour him some water into a prepared mug and then he handed it to Merlin who took a sip. "Didn't help, but thanks." He smiled.

Arthur sat back to his boyfriend. "Look Merlin... it was strange. Remember how I tried to make the monster attack me?"

"Yeah, _that_ was stupid." Merlin said.

"And do you remember what happened after that?" Arthur ignored the insult and continued being worried.

"No." Was Merlin's honest answer. "The monster... it ran after me, I remember that. But I don't know what happened next, its... its eyes were so gold." Merlin said, looking in front of him at nothing but air. He looked lost in his thoughts.

"Merlin." Arthur snapped his fingers in front of Merlin's face and Merlin blinked. "This is serious, okay? So now listen to me." He waited until Merlin nodded and looked into his eyes. "After the monster started running towards you, I called your name, but you didn't hear me. You looked like you were frozen. You didn't move."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Arthur nodded and continued when he saw Merlin's worried face. "I started running to you, but I was too late and the monster... it stopped in front of you. It _did_ something, your eyes turned gold, but you weren't using magic. At least it didn't seem so-"

"Did anyone see?" Merlin hurriedly asked, fear in his eyes.

"No, I don't think so. Everyone was hiding in their houses and your back was turned to them, you were facing the forest." Arthur reassured Merlin. "But then something worse happened. The monster opened its mouth and I thought it was going to eat you, but then its teeth disappeared."

"How can they just disappear?" Merlin asked.

"How am I supposed to know, they just did." Arthur rolled his eyes. "They disappeared and then you opened your mouth and there was this white ball of light coming out of your mouth and the monster wanted to eat it or just do something with it, but I managed to kill it before it got the chance to do whatever it wanted to do."

Merlin was silent. "I don't remember any of that." He admitted.

"You were unconscious after I killed it. But you're the sorcerer here, what do you think happened?" Arthur asked, looking at Merlin. Merlin was looking down at his hands and it looked like he was thinking hard about it.

"I... I don't know." He whispered. "But I feel... I don't feel complete. Something's... something's missing." He frowned and closed his eyes as if searching for the answer.

Arthur looked down at Merlin's hands and they were shaking, so he reached down and touched Merlin's hands, entwining their fingers. He hoped it would bring some comfort to his boyfriend. He could see Merlin wasn't really alright, something must have happened.

"Arthur, I-" Merlin suddenly spoke up and opened his eyes. He tightened his grip on Arthur's hands and brought them closer to his chest. He took a deep breath. "I feel something's wrong." He whispered.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked as he shifted to be closer to Merlin.

"I feel... empty. Broken. _Incomplete."_ Merlin continued whispering. "Like something that's mine isn't here and I can't find it." There were tears in Merlin's eyes and as soon as Arthur noticed that, he wrapped his arms around Merlin's shoulders and pulled him closer to hug him.

"Do you know what it is?" He asked, whispering into Merlin's ear. He could feel Merlin shake his head.

"No, I don't, I-" Then Merlin's eyes suddenly widened and he quickly pulled away.

"What?" Arthur asked. "What is it?"

"I don't feel my... I don't have..." Merlin started panicking as a tear escaped his eyes. He swallowed and looked into Arthur's eyes. "I don't have my magic." He said.

It was a simple sentence, but it meant _so_ _much._ It meant the impossible to Merlin and even though it was a short time that Arthur knew about Merlin's gift, it seemed impossible to him too. How could Merlin _not_ have his magic? He _was_ magic and magic was him. At least that's what both Merlin and Iseldir told him.

"What do you mean you don't have your magic?" Arthur asked. He might have heard wrong.

"I don't feel it inside me, I don't have it anymore." Merlin said and took a deep breath. He wanted to stop the panic, but it was too late. He quickly clasped his hands together and brought them to his lips. He whispered a spell that was so familiar to him, but when he opened his hands again, nothing happened.

The panic increased as he desperately tried again. _"Blóstmá!"_ But when he opened his palm, there was no flower in it. _"Forbearnan!"_ He said into his closed hand and when he opened it... _nothing._ There was no fire in it, no flower, just _nothing._ He couldn't reach his magic.

"Your eyes didn't turn gold." Arthur said with concern in his voice. Merlin glared at him with tears in eyes and Arthur looked down. "Sorry."

"I don't have my magic." Merlin told him again. He could feel the hot tears on his face. He's never been without magic, he couldn't even imagine it. He's never thought this could happen. Was it forever? Did he lose his gift forever? That would mean he'd never be able to protect Arthur again and he'd never fulfil his and Arthur's destiny. Albion wouldn't happen. Magic would still be banned, everything would be-

"Hey, hey!" Arthur said and pulled Merlin in for a hug again. He could see Merlin was starting to panic and his breaths were becoming quicker. Arthur started rubbing comfortable circles on Merlin's back as the former warlock started crying.

"It's alright, we'll figure something out." Arthur tried to reassure him.

"I will never be able to protect you again." Merlin sobbed. "I'm finally utterly _useless."_

"You are not useless, Merlin." Arthur immediately told him and kissed his cheek. "You're just as important to me as you were before. Trust me." He smiled and tightened the hug. Merlin laid his head on Arthur's shoulder and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down.

"But I don't have my magic anymore..." Merlin sniffled.

"We'll get your magic back, okay? We will _."_ Arthur smiled and pulled away slightly to look into Merlin's wet eyes. He wiped his tears away with his thumb and smiled at him. Merlin didn't smile back.

"You know, the druids warned me about that monster." Merlin told him. "I should have been more careful."

"Maybe you should have, but you can't change that now." Arthur said. "Now we have to think about everything that happened again and try to figure out where your magic is or at least what really happened."

Merlin nodded and calmed down a bit. "Okay then, you start." He said and reached to the bedside table for the mug with water. He took a gulp of the cold liquid and turned to Arthur to listen to him.

"Alright then." Arthur said and frowned. "Your eyes were gold and the monster's eyes were gold as well."

"That means it did something to me, using some kind of magic. I couldn't move when it was staring at me." Merlin told him and Arthur nodded.

"Then it opened its mouth as if it wanted to eat you or something-"

"Like my magic." Merlin suggested, cutting Arthur off.

"That would explain why it didn't eat any of those villagers we found in the cave."

"It was hungry for magic. Any magic. And either the dead villagers were sorcerers and I'd have died if you hadn't killed it, or they didn't have magic and it just killed them for fun." Merlin said, frowning.

"We should tell the others about the bodies we found in the cave so they can bury their loved ones." Arthur looked down. "But first, how exactly did you _feel_ during the attack?"

Another great question. "I don't know." Merlin answered. "It was... I felt like I just had to look into its eyes, like it was calling me. Like I just needed to get closer to it and find out what it wanted." Merlin mused while staring at nothing in front of him again. "And then this weird... empty feeling came and then I remember I woke up on the bed, nothing else, sorry."

"It's alright." Arthur put his hand on Merlin's shoulder and smiled. "So you stared into its gold eyes and after it opened its mouth, its teeth disappeared... which isn't really important. More important is that you opened your mouth as well and-"

"And my teeth didn't disappear." Merlin mumbled and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Right. And then that light appeared." Arthur said.

"It came out of my mouth you said?" Merlin asked again and Arthur nodded. "Maybe that light was my magic and it just... it went away. The monster probably wanted to eat it, get my magic."

"But it didn't, I killed it." Arthur said and Merlin frowned.

"Well where did the light go then?" He asked and Arthur frowned.

"I don't know, it just... it wasn't there when I killed the monster and it didn't go into the monster either, maybe it's lost somewhere in the air all around us." Arthur said while swinging his arms in the air.

"Or maybe..." Merlin whispered as his eyes widened and he looked at Arthur.

"What? What is it?" Arthur started asking when Merlin was silent for too long.

"Or maybe," Merlin swallowed and his expression turned sad. "Maybe the monster doesn't have my magic... Maybe you have it.

 _Maybe you have my magic, Arthur._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I love when Arthur has magic! :D What do you think? Oh and what do you think happened to Morgana? :D
> 
> I hope you liked the chapter! ;)


	9. Careful With Your Magic

"What?" Arthur repeated his question for the fourth time, still looking somewhat disbelievingly at Merlin.

"I think you have my magic." Merlin repeated again and even though he looked calm, he really wasn't. "Come on Arthur, we have to know for sure." He pleaded and after a while Arthur nodded.

"Alright, what should I do?" He asked.

Merlin gently took Arthur's hands and clasped them together, looking hesitant. "It's a simple spell, this one." He whispered and guided Arthur's hands to Arthur's mouth. "Just whisper one word and keep looking into my eyes, okay?" After Arthur nodded, Merlin took a deep breath and told him the magical word. " _Blostma."_

Arthur looked at Merlin and couldn't think about anything else but the fact that Merlin's eyes didn't turn gold as he said the word. It felt like such a loss, and now he himself was the one who was supposed to use Merlin's gift.

"Alright." Arthur cleared his throat and hesitantly brought his hands to his mouth. _"Blostma."_ He whispered while looking into Merlin's eyes.

Merlin's eyes widened and he knew the reason. His eyes definitely turned gold because suddenly he felt something in his palm. He looked down and opened his hands and there was a little flower – a rose. Arthur smiled and looked up at Merlin, who wasn't smiling at all.

"So now we know for sure." Merlin said and looked down. Then he felt Arthur's thumb on his chin, making him look up.

"I'll give you your magic back right after we find out how to do that." He smiled and Merlin nodded. Wanting to change the sad subject, Arthur smiled. "Where did you learn this spell anyway? It's sweet."

Arthur didn't expect the light pink cheeks that Merlin tried to hide.

"Okay, now I really want you to tell me." Arthur smiled, glad that Merlin didn't look sad again. But that soon changed.

"There was a... a girl." Merlin mumbled. "But I don't want to talk about it."

"What?" Arthur laughed. "Why not? I never expected you to have a girlfriend and yet here you are, telling me you actually found someone who liked you before I did."

"You never expected that you'd like me either." Merlin mumbled, but then sighed. "Okay, this is another painful memory and I'm sorry for disobeying your father's orders back then, but I had to do it, okay?" Merlin confessed and Arthur frowned. "Remember that druid girl who turned into that monster and attacked the citizens?"

"Yes, I do. I killed her." Arthur frowned a bit more. What did Merlin mean by this?

"Well, I hid her under the castle and her name was Freya." Merlin admitted and looked down with sadness in his eyes. "She died in my arms on the lake shore."

There was silence for a few seconds, until Arthur shifted closer to Merlin on the bed and enveloped him in yet another hug. So much hugging in the last few days, that was not like Arthur Pendragon at all, but here he was, hugging his clumsy servant who also happened to be his new boyfriend.

"I'm... I'm so sorry, Merlin." Arthur whispered. He had not expected this. "I didn't... I wasn't... I-"

"It's alright, it happened more than a year ago." Merlin pulled away and offered Arthur a small smile. "I know you had to protect your people and obey your father's orders. Gaius had told me not to get involved and yet I did. It was my fault too."

"It wasn't your fault in any way, Merlin. I just should have paid more attention to what you were doing." Arthur told him. "Like stealing my food for example, you'd never done that before. I should've known something was going on."

"Can we talk about something else?" Merlin asked after a while and Arthur nodded.

"How about we get the hell out of this village and find out how to get your magic back. I don't want my father running around the castle and looking for a sorcerer just because I can't control your magic." He laughed and Merlin had to laugh too.

"You haven't done anything yet." He smiled.

"Let's keep it that way." Arthur smirked and kissed Merlin. Merlin kissed him back and smiled into the kiss. When Arthur pulled away, Merlin gasped. His eyes were gold and they were levitating in the air.

Well, shit.

" _What_ on Earth?" Arthur's eyes widened when he noticed they left the bed and were floating in the air. Then he looked at Merlin. "Okay, this is gonna be a problem."

After Arthur managed to get them both down, they packed their things and went to sleep with a promise to leave the village the next day. Arthur fell asleep in matter of seconds, but Merlin had trouble falling asleep.

All he could think about was that empty feeling inside of him that just wouldn't go away. He felt it in every move he did and he started to think that it might actually drive him mad if he wouldn't get his magic back somehow.

But the question _how_ remained. The beast was dead now so they couldn't use it and all the help they could get was probably from Kilgharrah himself. Merlin haven't seen him in a while. He knew the dragon was flying somewhere out there and if they needed his help, they'd have to call him. Which created another question.

Did Arthur have Merlin's dragonlord abilities as well? Or did they stay inside his body? Did that monster take away every supernatural ability Merlin had or just the magic? Who knew? He couldn't call Kilgharrah now, they had to get enough sleep so they could head back to Camelot the next day.

But they could try to meet the Great Dragon on their way back. They just had to find some clearing big enough for a dragon to land.

Merlin hoped Kilgharrah knew the answer as he finally closed his eyes and fell asleep with his head on Arthur's chest and his arm around Arthur's torso.

xoXÖXox

When Merlin woke up, Arthur was already up and putting his clothes on. Merlin smiled and admired the view of Arthur trying to get into his pants and red tunic. When Arthur finally noticed Merlin was awake, he blushed and threw his clothes at him. It landed on Merlin's face and he started laughing.

"Don't laugh and put your clothes on, you idiot." Arthur told him. "We're leaving."

"Yeah, I know." Merlin smiled and finally got up. Then he quickly put on his pants, blue tunic, red neckerchief and jacket and then he helped Arthur get into his chain mail and armour.

"Did you have trouble sleeping or are the nightmares completely gone?" Arthur asked after a while when it was getting a bit awkward. Merlin was still putting Arthur's chain mail on Arthur and they were both silent until Arthur spoke up.

"I didn't have any nightmares, but I couldn't fall asleep." Merlin admitted. "I couldn't stop thinking about how to get my magic back."

"And did you come up with something?" Arthur asked.

"Maybe. But we'll have to get away from the village to call for his help." Merlin smiled and Arthur frowned.

"His help? Who is it?"

"An old friend of mine." Merlin smirked. "I told you about him." He looked up at Arthur and waited until he realized who he was talking about. He didn't. "It's the Great Dragon, Kilgharrah." Merlin rolled his eyes and patted Arthur's chest when he was fully dressed.

Arthur's eyes widened. "You want to call the damn dragon who attacked Camelot?"

"It's fine, I told you. He isn't going to attack anymore, he's on our side." Merlin quickly reassured him, but Arthur didn't calm down.

"He's definitely not on my side, I tried to bloody kill him, Merlin!" He hissed, but Merlin rolled his eyes again.

"Trust me, he believes in our destiny, just like I do. He wants magic back in Camelot and he wants you to create Albion."

"With your help."

"Yeah." Merlin smiled. "So he is going to help us... I just hope he knows how." A little frown appeared on Merlin's face.

"I hope so too." Arthur smiled and took Merlin's hand. He entwined their fingers and kissed Merlin's knuckles. Merlin blushed and the frown disappeared. "Okay, and now I want you to go find our horses while I buy some food for the journey back to Camelot. Alright?"

"Yeah, okay." Merlin chuckled. "Sire."

"It's Arthur." Arthur smiled and leaned in to kiss Merlin. Merlin happily accepted the kiss and smiled when Arthur suddenly pulled away and nudged Merlin closer to the door. "And hurry up, will you!" He smirked and Merlin left the room, rolling his eyes again.

As Arthur told him, Merlin went down to find the stables and their horses. After he found them, he paid to the stable boy for taking care of the royal horses (with Arthur's money of course) and then he went back into the tavern.

Arthur was just leaving the wife of the owner with some apples and meat for the journey, smiling when he turned around and spotted his servant. Merlin smiled back and left the door opened for him.

"Are the horses ready?" Arthur asked and Merlin nodded.

"Yeah, we're ready to go." Merlin confirmed and Arthur put all the food in Merlin's arms. When Merlin raised his eyebrows, Arthur rolled his eyes. "You're still my servant, Merlin. Don't you think it would look strange that the prince of Camelot carries all of our food while his servant walks around empty handed?"

Merlin rolled his eyes, but nodded. "You're such a prat." He muttered and Arthur smirked as he went back to the tavern for the rest of their things.

When they both mounted their horses and rode through the village towards the field and the forest, a gathering of villagers stopped them. There was about twenty of them, all smiling and looking up at their prince from the courtyard. Arthur with Merlin rode closer to them and a man stepped out. It was the man who went to Uther to ask for help... William, wasn't it? He must have arrived back home while they were in the forest.

"We all wanted to thank you Arthur Pendragon for your help." The man said. "Unfortunately we don't have much to give you, but-"

"It's alright." Arthur raised his hand. "I don't need anything, I'm just glad the beast is dead and isn't bothering your village anymore."

William smiled and bowed. "In that case, we thank you again, my lord." As soon as he said it, everyone bowed in front of him with smiles on their faces.

"You're welcome." Arthur smiled and then he remembered the cave and the bodies. "There's a cave about three hours walk to the North, near the mountains of Isgard." He started and the villagers looked up to listen to him. "I and my servant went to check it yesterday and we found the place where the monster slept." There were some gasps from the crowd of people. "In the cave you will find about five dead bodies. I think it's your loved ones who were attacked by the monster. It didn't eat them, so you can go there and take the bodies back to bury them if you want."

While the women covered the ears of their children, the men nodded. "We will go there today, my lord. Thank you again for the information." William said and nodded.

Arthur nodded back and just as he was about to leave, he noticed the body of the monster and a few men putting wood around it. "Do you need any help with taking care of the monster?" Arthur asked politely. They probably wanted to burn it, but he could tell the knights of Camelot to come here and help.

"There's no need, my lord. We are going to burn the beast tonight." William said and Arthur nodded and smiled.

"I wish you good luck then." He said and after the villagers bowed again, Arthur nodded at Merlin and they turned their horses and continued on their way out of the village.

They rode alongside the field and met a few more people who were working there. They always bowed and Arthur nodded and eventually, they got to the forest and left the village behind them.

"We should get back to Camelot as soon as possible and tell my father that the monster is dead." Arthur said after a while.

"I know, but first we need to call Kilgharrah." Merlin told him and sped up. "Have you been here before?" He asked.

"Once." Arthur smiled. "When I was a young boy and my father wanted to show me the kingdom. He took me on a trip to a few villagers and then we went back to Camelot and I had to practice with my sword again. It was a nice few days." He sighed and looked back at Merlin who was smiling too. "Why?"

"I was just wondering if there are some clearings or meadows around so we could call Kilgharrah." Merlin answered and Arthur frowned, deep in thought.

"I'm not sure, but I think there should be one big enough." He said after a while and then he turned slightly right. "I think it's this way."

"Okay," Merlin followed Arthur. "And how long until we get there?"

"It shouldn't take more than two hours if we keep this pace." Arthur said and rode closer to Merlin. He smiled at him. "We'll be there soon enough, don't worry." He said and Merlin blushed and smiled.

"Alright, but if you use my magic accidentally, you'll want to be there as soon as possible too." He said and sped up again. Arthur rolled his eyes and followed him.

"And if you were able to use magic for the first time in your life and were about to meet someone you once tried to kill, you wouldn't be too eager to get there either." Arthur smirked and this time Merlin rolled his eyes. He couldn't help but smile though.

xoXÖXox

Earlier that day when it was still dark night, Morgana secretly left her chambers and wandered off into the forest to find Morgause. She had contacted her and told her she wanted to meet her and Morgause had agreed.

When she reached the same old big tree in the middle of the forest like the last time they met, she saw Morgause already standing there.

"Sister." Morgause greeted her and they shared a brief hug. "Why did you call me?"

"It happened a few hours ago, I felt a strange shift in magic, as if something happened, but-"

"I know." Morgause smiled and took her hands. "I felt it too and believe me, there's nothing to worry about."

"How do you know?" Morgana asked, suspicious.

"Because whatever it was, we must not let it distract us, we have to continue with our plan. That shift is not important now and I'm sure someone took care of it or will take care of it."

"But what if-"

"We have to continue our plan, sister." Morgause frowned. "Don't you want to see Uther kneeling before you while you sit on his throne? Don't you want to show that old fool what magic can really do?"

"More than anything." Morgana smirked and looked down. Then she nodded. "I'm sure it wasn't important, you're right." She looked into her sister's eyes. "Our plan to attack Camelot is more important now."

Morgause nodded and hugged Morgana. "Now go back to sleep, I'll call you when I need you."

Morgana smiled and nodded and then she left.

xoXÖXox

The sun was already high in the sky and there was still no sign of the meadow or a clearing of any kind.

"Are you sure it's this way?" Merlin asked, annoyed that they weren't there yet. The sooner they get there and meet Kilgharrah, the sooner he'll get his magic back. Not to mention they also had to find out which one of them was a Dragonlord now.

"Yes, Merlin, I'm sure. Now shut up, please." Arthur groaned as they urged their horses to move yet again and again and again. They were both becoming impatient and hungry. And grumpy. That was a package deal with the hunger.

"Oh, someone said please, that's strange. Now I know for sure you have no idea where we're going-"

"Merlin could you just- ahh!" Arthur yelped and fell out of his horse. He immediately stood up and unsheathed his sword, looking around like a startled and confused animal.

Merlin stopped his horse and jumped down to get to Arthur in matter of seconds and looked around as well. "What is it? What are we against?" He asked, reaching his hands in front of him only to remember he didn't really have magic and thus couldn't protect them. "Arthur, what is it?" He asked again and turned around to face his boyfriend.

"I don't know, I heard someone say my name." Arthur answered, still looking around and shoving Merlin behind him to protect him.

"I didn't hear anything."

"But I did." Arthur protested and when he couldn't see anyone, he frowned and lowered his weapon. "Someone said Arthur Pendragon, my name. It was a man."

"And how come I couldn't hear that?" Merlin looked at him.

"Honestly Merlin, you often don't hear or see things that others do." Arthur rolled his eyes and Merlin pursed his lips, making a perfect bitch face.

"Or maybe, someone is finally going _crazy."_ Merlin smirked.

"Alright, you clotpole. So if someone tries to kill us after we start moving again and I use your magic accidentally, remember it's your fault." Arthur said and sheathed his sword again.

"Noted." Merlin rolled his eyes and turned back to the horse that apparently didn't care about anything its masters were talking about.

 _Arthur_ _Pendragon._

But then suddenly Arthur gripped his arm with wide eyes. "Tell me you heard it." He asked, but Merlin shook his head. Then his eyes widened as if he knew exactly what was going on. "What?" Arthur asked, not liking being left oblivious.

"Do you hear it only in your head?" Merlin asked and after a while, Arthur nodded. "It's probably the druids. They sometimes contact me telepathically and because now you have my magic, you also have this ability." Merlin explained and Arthur nodded again.

"That actually makes sense." He mumbled and let go of Merlin's arm.

_We've come to help you, my king. It's Iseldir._

"What did they say?" Merlin asked when Arthur closed his eyes and listened.

"It's Iseldir, he said they've come to help us." Arthur answered with his eyes still closed. "But I don't know where you are." He said out loud and Merlin snorted. Arthur's eyes snapped open.

"You know you have to talk in your mind to make it telepathic, don't you?" Merlin asked and Arthur rolled his eyes. "They didn't hear you if they're not close."

"We heard you." Suddenly someone said behind them and they both turned around, quickly jumping away from each other when they realized they were still pretty close. Like really, really, extra close, like platonic friends maybe, but definitely not like a prince and his servant or a warlock and the Once and Future King.

"Iseldir." Arthur nodded and Iseldir nodded back. Then he turned to Merlin and bowed and Merlin nodded in response. There were three druids and none of them was Mordred. There was Iseldir with his hood down so they could see his face, but the other two druids had their hoods over their heads and nor Merlin nor Arthur could see into their faces.

"You said you've come to help?" Merlin asked and Iseldir nodded. "So you know about my magic. Arthur has it."

"Yes, we know, Emrys." Iseldir said and Arthur made a step closer.

"And do you know how to return the magic to Merlin?" He asked. The hope was evident in his voice.

"Yes, we know. We felt a shift in magic." Iseldir told them.

"We all felt it." Another druid spoke and removed the hood. It was a woman about Morgana's age. "Every sorcerer of this world must have felt it."

"Was it that bad?" Merlin asked, suddenly feeling responsible. Because if every sorcerer and sorceress felt it, then Morgause and Morgana must have felt it too. He still felt responsible for making her their enemy. They could have been friends, like before.

Iseldir nodded. "Don't worry, no one knows what happened but us. We tried to contact you, but no one answered. We knew something must have happened to your magic, Emrys. That's why we've come here."

"We also knew about the monster and found out about its abilities in the old books of old religion that we hide in our camp." The third druid spoke and removed his mask as well. It was an old man, much older than Iseldir and his voice sounded tired and old.

"We didn't know what it could do before." The woman druid told Merlin and Merlin nodded.

"You warned me about the monster though." He said.

"One of our old druids had a vision about danger coming your way." Iseldir admitted. "We didn't know what kind of danger then, but we knew you went to defeat some kind of a monster."

"Thanks for warning me and giving me the spell." Merlin told them, but then frowned. "I still don't understand though. How could everyone feel it?"

"Emrys, magic is the fabric of this world and you were born of that magic. You _are_ magic itself. And suddenly it shifted and changed its source. Its vessel. It left you and went into Arthur, no one could ever predict what would happen if the monster consumed your power. It could have killed it or give it unimaginable power." The woman druid answered and Merlin nodded again and closed his eyes. It was all his fault.

Seeing that Merlin wasn't about to talk again any time soon, Arthur looked at the three druids and asked the most important question. "So how do we get the magic back to Merlin?"

Iseldir looked at Arthur. "You have to go to a place where magic began. To an ancient cave called the Crystal Cave. You will find a man named Taliesin there and he will give you all the answers that you need."

Merlin looked up at Arthur and Arthur looked at him and then at the druids. "Thank you." They both said at the same time and then looked at each other.

"Where is the crystal cave located?" Merlin asked.

"It is inside the Valley of the Fallen Kings. When you are close to it, you will know." Iseldir said and Merlin nodded. "But Emrys. The crystal cave holds a great power and is sacred. Once you know it's location, you must tell no one."

Merlin nodded. "Don't worry, I will keep the secret." He smiled and turned to Arthur.

"Thank you again." Arthur smiled and all the three druids nodded. When Arthur looked at Merlin and then back at the druids, they were all gone. If what the druids told them didn't work and he ended up keeping the magic, Merlin just had to teach him how to disappear like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you read my story "Body Change", then you know I already used the "is Arthur now Dragonlord too because he has my magic or is it still me" thing, but back then I used Kilgharrah to help them and well, Merlin was in Arthur's body, so I thought this time it would be logical to use the Druids and the Crystal Cave... I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it? Merlin is magic and the Crystal Cave is where magic began :D
> 
> Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. :) I'll post the last one tomorrow, I hope you'll like how I ended it. :D Oh and since I'm not going to continue with Morgana's and Morgause's plan to attack Camelot and the whole Dragon Dagger story in this fanfic, please tell me if you're interested in a sequel, thanks! ;)


	10. The Crystal Cave

The sun in the sky and the sounds of birds got replaced by the moon and distant calling of owls. It was getting dark pretty fast and they had to make a stop to eat and rest for the night.

They dismounted their horses and while Merlin fed them, Arthur went out to collect some wood for the fire. Once they both met by the horses again, they sat on the ground and Merlin started making the fire with a tinderbox as he always did when Arthur didn't know about his magic yet.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked and Merlin glanced at him with a strange expression.

"What do you think? I'm starting the fire."

Merlin heard Arthur sigh and get closer to him. "I meant... why are you doing this when I can use your magic?" Arthur asked and when Merlin looked up, his face looked annoyed.

"And why do you think?" He asked and put the tinderbox aside. "You _can't_ control my magic, it's a miracle you haven't done anything noticeable yet. You _can't_ use my magic to make a fire because fire is the most dangerous element."

"You don't have to be so annoyed about it, Merlin." Arthur frowned at him, but Merlin just looked down with a sad expression and returned to his task.

"I'm not annoyed." He mumbled under his breath, but Arthur heard it and rolled his eyes.

Merlin tried to make the fire, but his hand slipped and the tinderbox fell to the ground. Merlin huffed and tried again, but his anger didn't help and he failed again. He groaned.

When Arthur saw Merlin was unsuccessful, he took a deep breath and clasped his hands together. Warning aside, he wanted to try to use the magic that he felt in his fingers. He felt so excited.

He looked down and saw that Merlin wasn't looking, so he stood up and said, "Merlin, watch out!" And then without thinking, Arthur reached his hands to the sticks on the ground and thought about fire. He didn't know what magic word he had to use, so he improvised and just thought about the wood burning.

Merlin jumped away as he saw Arthur's eyes turned gold and the wood started burning. Not only the wood though, the grass around too and the tip of Merlin's shoe as well.

"Arthur!" Merlin yelled and Arthur stopped, looking at the fire with a happy expression.

"See? It wasn't that hard to-"

"My shoe is on fire!" Merlin yelled again and only then Arthur noticed the fire on his servant's foot. Merlin was jumping on one leg and trying to stop the fire by kicking the ground with his foot, but it didn't help.

Arthur quickly ran to the horses for some water and threw it at Merlin's foot, stopping the fire. He didn't know how to stop a fire with magic, and after the failed attempt to make a fire, he didn't want to use magic near Merlin again.

"Sorry!" Arthur said, but Merlin looked angry.

"I told you not to use it!" He shouted. "You don't know what you're doing, all you know is that it's magic, but you don't realize how dangerous it is! I know how to control it, but you don't, okay?! I think I know now why I'm the one with magic in the prophecies and not you!"

"I'm still your prince Merlin and I'm going to become a king, so I wouldn't talk to me like that if I were you." Arthur frowned. He was becoming angry too. What happened between them? Why were they even fighting?

"Oh, I'm sorry, my _lord_!" Merlin told him. "I didn't realize that you're so much better than me and that everyone does whatever you ask, even though you're still just a royal prat!"

When Arthur opened his mouth to return the insult, the fire next to them exploded and grew bigger. They both jumped away and fell to the ground. Arthur lost control of Merlin's magic. Merlin was right the whole time, he didn't have any training in using such a power. Merlin's been born with it and had his whole life to learn and control it, Arthur's barely had a day.

"I'm sorry." Arthur said when he saw how flustered and panicked Merlin looked. Then Merlin looked at him with tears in eyes, which made Arthur a bit confused.

"I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have yelled at you." Merlin told him as a tear escaped his eye. "I'm so sorry." He whispered.

Arthur looked at the fire and was relieved that it got smaller again and looked almost normal. Then he scooted closer to Merlin and hugged him because Merlin looked like he really needed it.

"It's alright, I'm not mad anymore." Arthur told him. "I shouldn't be anyway, you were right. Next time I might kill the horses or set the whole forest on fire or something." He joked and smiled when he heard Merlin laughed a bit against his chest.

Then Merlin pulled away. "I know I've been grumpy the whole day, but it's... it's hard, you know?" He admitted and Arthur nodded, encouraging him to continue. "I have _never_ been without my magic in my whole life. _Ever_. I was born with it and even though I tried not to use it for my own protection, sometimes I just had to use it and feel free and now... I feel so frustrated and on edge because the empty feeling just won't go away and I feel... I feel _vulnerable_ for the first time in my life."

Arthur listened to him and he understood. That's why he put his hand on Merlin shoulder and made him look up into his eyes. "I'll protect you, just like you've always been protecting me."

"But you don't even know how to use my magic." Merlin sighed, but appreciated how much Arthur wanted to make him feel better.

"I know how to use my sword." Arthur smiled. "And you can always teach me some handy spells. It's going to take at least two more days until we get to the Valley of the Fallen Kings."

"That's a long time." Merlin sighed. Then a tiny smile appeared on his face. "But I'll teach you something, I promise. Just... try to control your magic a bit. Don't get too excited or-"

Arthur stopped him with a kiss on his lips and Merlin moaned. He did _not_ expect that. "That's not exactly what I meant, but okay." Merlin laughed when he pulled away.

"We're not flying." Arthur smiled when he looked down. They were still sitting on the ground, practically cuddling.

"Congratulations." Merlin smiled. "Your first lesson is completed." He said as he put his arms around Arthur's neck and pulled him closer for another kiss.

When the kiss ended, Merlin laid his head on Arthur's shoulder and they stayed in the embrace for a couple of minutes. Merlin closed his eyes and enjoyed how close he was to Arthur, while Arthur kept his eyes open and was looking at the fire.

The power inside him... it felt so overwhelming and just... _powerful._ He could feel the energy in his fingertips and when he looked at the fire, he could feel its warmth and he felt the magic that he used. He never thought Merlin could be _that_ powerful.

"I didn't know how powerful you could be." Arthur mumbled into Merlin's hair. "I knew you had magic, but I didn't know how _much_ of it."

"I _am_ magic, I don't exactly have it." Merlin told him and kept his eyes closed. "I feel it every day in every my move and I got used to it. It's a part of me. And now that part is missing and I feel incomplete."

"I'm sorry."

"No," Merlin pulled away and looked into Arthur's regretful eyes. "I'm glad it was you, imagine if someone else got my magic. I don't even know how that monster could have stolen it when it's supposed to be _me_ , but it happened and we're lucky it was the one person I trust." Merlin smiled and Arthur smiled too.

He caressed Merlin's cheek with his palm and when Merlin blushed, he pulled him closer for another kiss. He loved kissing Merlin, magic or not.

xoXÖXox

The next day of their travelling wasn't that nice. It kept raining and they had to continue on their way to the Crystal Cave, so they spent the whole day on horses. They had to return to Camelot as soon as possible, Uther may have been a king, but he was also Arthur's father and all fathers get worried when their children don't return home for more than a couple of days.

They finally stopped to eat and Arthur managed to make a fire without any accident (Merlin had told him earlier what to say while using magic and how to keep the fire alive when it was raining). They couldn't even talk because of the heavy rain, so they had to make a tent out of wood and leaves. They were far away from any mountains, so caves weren't an option.

They switched in the middle of the night to keep watch and when the morning came and it finally stopped raining, they continued on their way.

They were on their horses again when Arthur spoke. "What other spell can you teach me? Something I won't mess up?"

Merlin chuckled at that. "I think you're capable of messing up everything that I-"

" _Mer_ lin." Arthur rolled his eyes fondly. "I can make fire now, which you said was dangerous, so... how about creating water?" Arthur smiled as he imagined himself creating water from thin air.

"There is no spell for creating water because you can't _make_ it. It's impossible." Merlin put an end to Arthur's imagination and Arthur frowned.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused.

"Well, you can't make water because water has always been on Earth. It's all around us for you to use, so you can't just create it out of thin air. But fire is different. Fire isn't something that is always around, it's something that you _have_ to create... I read it in a book." Merlin added when he saw Arthur's confused expression. "Do you understand?"

"Maybe?" Arthur admitted. "Magic is complicated, let's think of some other spell then." He said and Merlin smiled and nodded.

"Okay. You can make fire, you already made a flower... I think you should learn something useful in case something happens. Like how to create a fire ball or how to knock someone out by throwing them against a tree."

"You want me to knock you out?" Arthur laughed, but Merlin rolled his eyes.

"No, you _dollophead._ I'd just tell you what to say and how to move your arms in case we meet some bandits again." He explained and Arthur nodded.

"Show me then." He smiled.

"Okay, so to create a fire ball, all you need to do is prepare your palm and say ' _Forbaerne! Ácwele! '_ The first word creates a fireball in your hand and the second throws it at whatever you point. And don't worry, the fire doesn't hurt you." Merlin said and Arthur nodded and mumbled those two words over and over again to memorize them.

After a while Arthur reached out his hand and whispered the first word. " _Forbaerne!"_ His eyes flashed gold and a big fireball appeared in his palm. His eyes widened. "How do I get rid of it?" He asked quickly and Merlin couldn't help but laugh. "This is _not_ funny, shut up!"

"Well if you want me to shut up-"

"Just _tell me!"_ Arthur hissed, keeping his hand as far away from his face as possible. Thank god the horses couldn't see it, they'd run away.

"Just use your magic to make it stop. You have to _want_ it to disappear and it will." Merlin said calmly and in the next few seconds, the fire was gone.

"Let's never do that again." Arthur said.

"You should at least memorize the other spell though." Merlin told him and after a while Arthur nodded. "So all you have to say is ' _Ástryce_ ' and use your hand to point at your enemy as if you wanted to hit them. The magic will throw them away from you through your hand." Merlin smiled and Arthur nodded again, trying to memorize it.

And then suddenly he got an idea. Well, not an idea, a question. "What spells do you do for fun? I mean like... when you want to just see the magic or feel it or whatever you do when I'm not around."

Merlin smiled. "You're asking me what my favourite spell is?"

"Yes." Arthur smiled and rode with his horse a bit closer to Merlin. "What spell is it then?"

"I'd show you, but... without my magic I can't." Merlin's smile turned sad and Arthur looked down.

"And can you tell me what it was?" He asked when he looked up at Merlin.

"I clasped my hands together and when I opened them... there was a blue butterfly." Merlin's eyes looked so happy when he said it. "Or I create a dragon from fire, that's an easy spell." Merlin smiled. "But I like the butterfly better because not only is it beautiful, but I'm creating a life." He gazed dreamily in front of his horse and Arthur smiled.

He slowly clasped his hands together when Merlin wasn't looking and closed his eyes. He had no idea how to make the spell work, but he was certain that was the only moment in his life when he thought about blue butterflies that much.

When he opened his hands, a tiny blue butterfly was sitting there. "Merlin." Arthur called his name and Merlin looked at him, eyes sparkling.

"You did it!" He laughed. The butterfly spread its tiny blue wings and flew away.

"I did." Arthur smiled as he took Merlin's hand and they continued side by side on their way to the Crystal Cave.

xoXÖXox

In the late afternoon, they finally reached their destination and the Valley of the Fallen Kings was in front of them. The two large statues of kings with their swords pointing to the ground looked majestic in the red light of the sun.

"Here we are." Merlin smiled and dismounted his horse. Arthur dismounted too, and they led their horses inside the valley.

"Let's hope it works then." He said.

They continued through the narrow path in between the two rocks and when they reached a wider place with a tree inside, they decided to leave their horses there. They tied them to the tree and continued farther into the valley.

"Do you know where it is?" Merlin asked after a while.

"How would I know?" Arthur replied and stopped. Merlin shrugged.

"Well, Iseldir said it was a place where magic began, so I guess you should... feel its power?" He raised his eyebrows, but Arthur shook his head.

"I don't feel anything. It has to be hidden very well." He looked up and around and Merlin nodded.

"How are we supposed to find it then?" He frowned.

"You can ask me." Someone said from behind them. They both turned around to face an old man with short white hair. "Don't be afraid. I'm Taliesin." The man said and Merlin with Arthur both smiled.

"I'm Mer-"

"I know who you are." The man cut him off. "Emrys and the Once and Future King." He smiled. "The moment of our meeting has been written for many, many years."

"Then you know why we're here." Arthur told him and Taliesin nodded and chuckled.

"Follow me. I want to show you something." He turned around and disappeared behind a corner. Merlin and Arthur quickly caught up with him and followed him.

"Is it the Crystal Cave?" Merlin asked. He wanted to be sure, but he trusted the druids. They wouldn't fool him.

"You must wait and see." Taliesin chuckled as he led them farther through the valley. When he stopped, they were all standing in front of a tiny cave. He let them go in first and when he was inside as well, he led the way again. It wasn't long until they stood in front of a big cave full of crystals all around them.

"Wow." Arthur couldn't help but say as he stared at the beauty. Merlin was right – now he felt the enormous power of this place. It was so strong it almost made him dizzy, but he tried to ignore the feeling and kept staring at the white and pure, transparent crystals.

"This is where magic began." Taliesin told them. The druids were right after all, but Merlin didn't doubt. "It is the Crystal Cave."

"How do I get my magic back?" Merlin asked as Taliesin nodded.

"Walk inside the cave and it will recognize you. Your magic will return to you on its own." He told them. "But beware the crystals, they contain futures that are not yet born. And sometimes, knowing the future can be a curse."

"I remember I saw the future in the Crystal of Neahtid." Merlin said and looked at Taliesin.

The old man nodded and sighed as he looked at the crystals. Merlin and Arthur both followed his gaze. "What you see here is exactly the same, for the Crystal of Neahtid was hewn from this very cave."

Merlin nodded and took Arthur's hand. He didn't mind that Taliesin was standing behind them because if their lives and destinies were entwined and foretold, then they all already knew about them. It wouldn't happen if it wasn't the right thing for the future of Albion, would it?

When Merlin turned back, Taliesin wasn't there. Arthur squeezed his hand and looked at him. Merlin gasped. "Your eyes are gold." He said and Arthur frowned. "We need to get deeper inside the cave, I think I can feel its power too."

"Alright." Arthur nodded and they walked together deeper. Suddenly Arthur's vision blurred and his legs got weak. He fell to the ground and Merlin fell down with him.

"Arthur!" Merlin grabbed his shoulders and turned Arthur so he could see into his face. His eyes were still gold.

"Your eyes are gold too." Arthur told him and cupped Merlin's face. Merlin touched Arthur's hand that was on his cheek and smiled.

"It's started." He said and Arthur nodded weakly.

"This place is too powerful." He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. "But it's getting better, I think your magic is coming back to you." He looked up and pointed at something around them that Merlin couldn't see. When Merlin looked up, he could see gold sparkles and lights all around them. He smiled.

"My magic." He laughed and Arthur smiled with him. He felt much better, so he sat up and threw his arms around Merlin. Merlin hugged him back.

The white light and gold lights stopped after a while and when they pulled away, Merlin noticed Arthur's eyes were blue again. "Are my eyes still gold? Yours are blue." Merlin asked.

"Your eyes are beautiful." Arthur chuckled. "But the gold is leaving them, they're blue again." When Merlin smiled, Arthur pulled him in for a kiss.

When they pulled away and stood up, they held hands again and decided to go back. Merlin clasped his hands together and when he opened them, there was a beautiful, glowing blue butterfly. Arthur smiled and led them outside.

As they were walking side by side in between the crystals, Merlin couldn't help but look around. And then he saw it and stopped.

In one of the crystals, he saw... flashes. Images. He saw and heard a horse neighing in the courtyard and then there was sky. The white clouds and... was it a red dragon?

"Merlin? What is it?" Arthur squeezed his hand and looked into his eyes. Merlin quickly closed them and looked away.

"It was nothing." He said and kept his eyes closed. "It didn't make sense, that was no future." Merlin opened his eyes and quickly led Arthur away and out of the cave. Taliesin wasn't anywhere and when they turned around, the entrance to the cave was gone. "It was probably the past. If the crystals contain the future, they can contain the past too, right?"

Arthur looked confused, but he nodded. "Probably, yeah."

"Then what I saw was the past, nothing more." He nodded to himself and tried to forget what he saw. Dragons were long gone, the last one was Kilgharrah and he wasn't red. It _had_ to be the past.

"Is everything alright?" Arthur asked, but Merlin suddenly embraced him.

"Everything's fine, let's just go home." He smiled. "I have to tell Gaius that my nightmares are gone." When he pulled away, Arthur nodded and Merlin kissed him and took his hand. "You know what?" He suddenly smirked and Arthur frowned. "I bet I can be faster by our horses."

Then he smiled and started running in the direction of the horses. "Merlin!" Arthur laughed and started running after him. "I'm sure I'm the fastest runner in Camelot, you'll see!"

With that, they left the Valley of the Fallen Kings and thought about Taliesin and the Crystal Cave no more. Even though Arthur caught up with Merlin and arrived to the horses sooner than him, Merlin wasn't angry, but he might have used some little spell to make Arthur trip over a root.

They held hands as they rode back to Camelot with a beautiful view of the sunset before them.

***THE END***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The spells I used in this chapter are from 1x13 Le Morte d'Arthur, and from merlin.wikia.com. Oh and from 5x13 The Diamond of the Day Part Two (the butterfly spell). The theory that water can't be created by magic is from chapter 4 of a Merlin fanfic called "Powerfully Modest, Modestly Powerful" written by CaptainOzone on Fanfiction.net. Definitely check out her fanfics, I read most of them and they're amazing!
> 
> This fanfic took me more than two years to write. It took a lot of planning and translating magic (and old English) and I hope all that work and time has been worth it and that you liked the story. I'd like to thank my beta Silverstar for being so friendly and for reading each chapter before I posted it!
> 
> Feedback is very much appreciated. I'd love to know what you think about this chapter and the whole story. It's my longest Merlin fanfiction so far and even though it's not the best thing out there in the world of fanfiction, I'm proud of this. I hope you enjoyed it :)
> 
> Oh and one final thing - a question. Please tell me if you want me to write a sequel for this! I've already created a project for Camp NaNoWriMo in July and I'd like to write the sequel there, but I need to know if it's worth it and if you want to read it, if it's not a complete waste of time. So please answer, it would mean a lot :)
> 
> Thanks for all the comments, kudos and subscribes and for reading this story!
> 
> Mischel ♥
> 
> PS: Sequel is now complete! ;)

**Author's Note:**

> I'll try to update every day btw, I hope you'll like the story :)


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